The American
by Kody Wright
Summary: Apollo and Starbuck rescue an American pilot from certain death when they discover an experimental NASA shuttle floating in deep space. Due to a miscommunication they assume America is the name of her planet and debate helping her return home of trying to find the 13th colony.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

 **Earth - Present Day**

The little shuttle named _Starbuck_ sat on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The countdown had begun to send the test shuttle into orbit. The mission was simple enough. To test a quantum string theory that could create a slipstream from one galaxy to another. The pilot was to test the theory and gather sensor information in orbit for the scientist at NASA. The shuttle pilot, Kara Thrace was chosen to fly the mission after an exhausted test process. She sat at the controls as the countdown commenced. She looked over the controls of the one man shuttle and readied herself for liftoff. The spacesuit was bulky and helmet made her feel like she was trapped in a bowl. The countdown came to zero and the rumble of the engines ignited beneath. The gravitational forces pushed her back into the seat as the shuttle rocketed up from the surface of the planet. She executed the maneuvers to orbit perfectly. Within fifteen minutes she was sitting on the top of the world and preparing for the test.

"Starbuck to command," she radioed upon reaching orbit.

"We read you loud and clear Starbuck," the voice crackled over the speaker.

"I am in position to start phase one of the test," she announced rather confident.

"Initiate phase one," the voice gave the command.

Kara flipped the switches and initiated the secondary engine. She reported, "Starbuck to command. Phase one initiated. Temperature is holding steady."

Within a few minutes she was given the next order, "Command to Starbuck. You are a go for phase two."

"Starbuck to command initiating phase two," she replied as she flipped another switch. She then hit a turbo button to gain speed. Much to her surprise the sensors went wild and she was thrown back against her seat with tremendous force. She looked ahead and saw nothing but lights. "Starbuck to command I'm disengaging phase two." She hit the switch but nothing happened. She started feeling nauseous and disoriented. "Command, come in command. I can't disengage." Still she got no reply. She executed another maneuver to disengage the engines of the shuttle completely. Finally she came to a rest and the nauseating lights subsided. She had trouble determining if she right side up or upside down. There was nothing around her. She could see stars but could not get any bearings. She hit the distress signal and hoped someone would find her before she ran out of air.

 **The Galactica**

Two Vipers made their way across the space to ensure no Cylons were near. Captain Apollo and Lt. Starbuck were out on patrol. Starbuck made small talk with his friend and captain.

"You know what the first thing is I'm gonna do once we find Earth?" asked Starbuck.

Apollo wondered, "What's that?"

"Take a hot shower for as many centars as I want," he grinned thinking of how good that long, hot shower would feel.

"You'll wrinkle up like an old man if you are in there that long," he laughed. He then noticed, "I getting something on long range scanner."

Starbuck made adjustments, "I'm picking up something too, about a hectar ahead."

"I think I'm getting a transmission," Apollo added. They soon closed in on the source and spotted a small shuttle floating upside down and lifeless in the dead of space. Apollo read his scanners, "I'm not getting any match on any known vessel."

Starbuck looked closely at the white and black shuttle, "Doesn't look like Cylon. I'm going in for a closer look." He inched his Viper close to the windows of the cockpit. He could make out the outline of a human inside. "There's someone in here," he reported. "It looks like a man in a suit."

"It's some sort of distress call," Apollo had analyzed the signal.

"Think we should bring him back to the Galactica?" asked Starbuck.

Apollo agreed, "Suit up for walk. We need to bring the pilot and craft back."

Starbuck grudgingly agreed, "Right."

 **Short Time Later**

Kara was removed from her damaged shuttle and placed inside Apollo's viper. Her shuttle was then attached to a cable designed for deep space recovery and towed back to the Galactica. Apollo wasn't sure if his passenger was alive or dead or what she truly looked like under the helmet and suit. He noticed the red, white and blue flag but had no idea what it meant.

Upon landing on the _Galactica_ , Kara was rushed to the decontamination unit and then to the infirmary. The ship's doctor discovered she was still alive but barely. She was placed in a special chamber to help her heal form the hypoxia.

Colonel Tigh walked into the bay where Starbuck had landed with the shuttle. All fighters and technicians gathered around the strange shuttle and wondered what it was and where it was from.

The Colonel pushed his way through the brown uniformed fighter-pilots. He smoothed out his blue uniform upon seeing the craft, "What do we have?" he demanded.

Starbuck reported, "Apollo found it along with its pilot. The pilot was taken to the infirmary. I'm not sure on her condition yet."

"Her?" he gasped.

"The pilot's a woman," he informed.

The colonel read the writing on the shuttle, "It is in our language. 'The United States of America'. Hmm, ' _Starbuck_ '?" he read off the shuttle's name.

"Yeah," Starbuck nodded. "It's the _Starbuck_." He then handed him the spacesuit the pilot wore, "She was in this. The patches say 'NASA'….Whatever that is."

"What else have you got?" he asked him.

"The ship is severely damaged," he told him. "I don't think it was made for going anyplace. The engines are far too small and there isn't enough fuel. There is a secondary engine but I don't have any idea how it works. It's not like anything I have seen. The controls seem basic but the internal displays seem a bit more advanced than what we have. Whatever the ship was made to do it wasn't designed to leave the orbit of a planet or moon."

"Move this little craft to a secured location," the colonel ordered. "And I want a full report as soon as possible."

"Yes sir," Starbuck agreed.

 **Infirmary**

Apollo was still in the infirmary as the ships' doctor, a tall thin man with white hair sporting a white coat brought the mysterious pilot around. Kara woke up as she was being removed from the chamber that saved her life. She had been stripped naked and was under a blanket. She was groggy and confused.

"Where am I?" she asked assuming she was somehow on Earth.

"Easy miss," the doctor told her. "You had a close call."

She looked over at Apollo. She didn't recognize him or his uniform but he seemed to have friendly smile. "Hi."

"Hi," he replied. "Can you tell me your name?"

"Kara Thrace," she reported. "Who are you?"

"My name is Captain Apollo," he informed. "I found you and your little shuttle. Can you tell me where you are from?"

She assumed she was on Earth and instantly replied, "I'm an American."

"American?" he asked unsure.

"I'm from America," she clarified.

Apollo assumed America was the name of her planet for his people had not used countries in a millennium. It made perfect sense for 'America' was on her craft. He assured her, "You're on the _Galactica_ now. You're safe."

"Is that Navy?" she wondered a bit confused.

He replied, "We're the last Battlestar."

She was too tired from her near death experience to really comprehend what he was speaking about and assumed she was on an allied ship in the ocean and she was going back home. She closed her eyes and muttered, "Let me know what you contact Washington."

"Excuse me," Apollo started when the ships' doctor stopped him.

"She's still very weak, Captain. She needs time to rest."

"I'll catch up with her later." he agreed and then he left the infirmary wondering just what do with his American.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Apollo stood before his father in his private office and made his report, "The shuttle we found seems to be designed as an orbiter. It has two engines, one is very old style and the other is like nothing we have ever seen before. The ship is severely damaged. The pilot is a woman, she is stable and in the infirmary. She says her name is Kara Thrace. She says she's from the planet America. Have you heard of such a planet?"

Adama sat behind his desk rather baffled, "I have never heard of such a planet. America? Hmm…There is nothing in the ancient text to indict such a planet. It's not Earth." He debated, "I would like to see her when she is well enough."

"Yes father," he agreed. He stood pondering what to say.

"Is there anything else, son?" he asked him.

"It's just the ship says 'United States of America' and states are something the colonies have not used in eons."

Adama assumed, "Each state would have its own name on planet America. It is most curious finding a human from another planet that is similar to us and we even share the same language of Caprica."

Apollo admitted, "I wonder if she's from the thirteenth colony. They may not call it Earth."

"That's an interesting theory, Apollo. We don't know what the thirteenth colony would like today. It's something to keep in mind as we go forward."

"Yes father," he agreed.

Adama asked, "Anything else?"

"No father," he replied. Deep down inside Apollo knew he found something significant but just how significant he was not sure yet.

"Dismissed," he father told him.

"Yes sir," he replied and left the office.

Adama sat back in his chair and pondered, "America! What planet is that?"

 **Infirmary**

Kara had woken back up and was given her blue NASA jumpsuit and clothing she was found in. She had nothing else to wear and put the articles back on. She finished tying her black boots when Apollo and Starbuck came to collect her. She looked at the pair and cocked her head to the side, "What with the seventies hairdo?"

"Excuse me?" asked Starbuck.

"I thought military required shorter hair," she told him.

He motioned, "It's regulation."

"Whatever," she shook her head. "So where am I again?"

"You're onboard the _Galactica_." Apollo repeated.

"That's a ship?" she asked. "What are you guys? European? Turkish?" she wondered trying to figure out where she was.

Apollo seemed a bit baffled, "Um, no…We're fighter pilots for the _Galactica_."

"An aircraft carrier?" she asked bewilder.

"We're a Battlestar," he repeated.

"You're confusing me here," she told them. "What ocean did you find me in? I assume the _Starbuck_ fell from orbit!"

Starbuck spoke up, "Your little ship…The _Starbuck_ …We found it floating a few sectars ahead. You weren't in any ocean. You were in space."

Kara's mouth dropped as she started to recall the events, "Oh' that's not good. You found me floating in space!"

Apollo nodded, "We followed your distress call and found you. You were nearly out of air and almost died."

She gasped, "Is the _Galactica_ is a space ship?"

"Yes," Apollo agreed wondering why she looked so surprised.

"The string drive," she sucked in a deep breath. "It engaged on the test. Oh' crap! I could be anywhere!"

"String drive?" asked Starbuck. "That's the secondary engine on your ship."

She slowly nodded, "It's based on quantum string theory. It had engaged and I remember seeing bright lights. It must have brought me here." She looked at the pair, "Where is here?"

"We're on a course for the Hazar Nebula," Apollo told her.

"I have no idea what that is," she rebutted. "What galaxy am I in? I could be anywhere."

"Kobol Galaxy," he replied as if it was well known.

"I never heard of it," she told him. "You said my shuttle was damaged. I can get the information from the sensors and the ship's computer and trace my trajectory. That should give me a good indication of direction I have to go to get back home."

Starbuck held up a hand, "Miss, your shuttle is badly damaged. It's not space worthy anymore. You can find the direction to your home is but getting there…"

She gave a funny look, "This is a space ship, right?"

"Battlestar," Apollo corrected.

"Can't you take me home?" she asked amused.

"We don't know where your home is," Apollo told her.

"I can find it," she sang amused.

Starbuck wondered, "How far away is your home?"

"I don't know yet," she told him.

Apollo told her, "It's not our call to take you home. That's up to my father, Commander Adama."

"Okay," she shrugged. "Where is your dad?"

"On the bridge," he replied.

She clapped her hands, "Cool, let's go meet him."

Starbuck liked her spunk and grinned at her as Apollo wasn't just what he had gotten himself into for she seemed rather annoying to him.

 **Bridge**

Kara was escorted to the bridge to see Adama. She walked the halls and noted naively to her escorts, "You're the first aliens from space I ever met."

Apollo rebutted, "We're not from space. I'm from Caprica."

"Where's that?" she wondered.

"Far away," he sighed depressed.

"I'm from Caprica too," added Starbuck.

She wondered, "What's your home like?"

Starbuck told her, "It was a great place to live. It had two suns, oceans lots of pyramid cities."

She asked confused, "Was? What happened to it?"

"The Cylons attacked," he told her. "They destroyed everything."

"What are Cylons?" she wondered.

Starbuck explained, "They are machines that were made eons ago by a reptilian race called the Cylons. The original race died out but their machines kept going. They eventually decided to attack and enslave other races. Our people were in a thousand year war and we thought we were going to have a truce when the Cylons attacked and wiped out the twelve colonies."

She gasped, "I am so sorry! You guys are in a war with these machines?"

Apollo laughed, "It's only a war when you have a chance at winning. We are refugees….All that's left of the twelve colonies…Two hundred and twenty barely space-worthy ships and one Battlestar. The Cylons out number and out gun us."

"What are you guys going to do?" she wondered.

"Try to find a new home," he told her. "There is a legend of a thirteen colony out there somewhere. We're hoping to find it and they will have the technology to keep the Cylons at bay."

"Or it's so well hidden the Cylons will never find it," Starbuck mentioned.

Apollo stopped at the bridge, "We're here."

Kara walked onto the bridge and found men and women and brown and blue uniforms scattered about at different stations. To front of the bridge was a partition made of thick glass; she looked out and knew she was in deep space. She was led to the center of the room where a platform held the command seat and an older, gray-haired man sat going over the days' duties.

"Father," Apollo stated.

Adama looked over and spotted his two star pilots with the young woman. He rose from his feet and stepped off the platform to welcome her, "Welcome aboard the Galactica. How are you feeling?"

"Better," she smiled at him. "Thank you for saving my life."

"You're very welcome," he told her with a smile.

"Your son told me you are in a war with machines," she added.

"The Cylons," he acknowledged.

She sucked in a breath, "I should be able to find out what direction my home is but from what I have been told my ship is badly damaged. I was kind of hoping you guys could bring me back home."

"Where is your home?" he asked. He did not know if they could help her but he would have liked to have the opportunity for something good to arise after so much loss.

"I'm not too sure yet but my home is located in what we call the Milky Way Galaxy. It's possible I'm in another galaxy. We were testing quantum string theory and it possible the string engine on the shuttle activated beyond the programs and brought me to another galaxy."

Adama pondered for a moment and then stated, "If you can tell me where your home is compared to our current position and if it's not too far away, we might be able to do that."

Apollo spoke up, "Father, it could be in another galaxy."

"We won't know without more information," he told him. "In the meantime you are welcome to stay onboard the Galactica…Miss Thrace."

"I was in the military before I joined NASA," she mentioned. "I'm actually familiar with this type of setting."

Starbuck wondered, "What were you?"

"I was a fighter pilot for the US Air Force," she told him.

Curiously he wondered, "Did you have a rank?"

"Yes, I was a major," she replied.

Adama asked, "This Air Force you were in. Did you see combat?"

"I can dogfight if that is what you are asking," she replied.

Starbuck added, "We are desperate for fighter pilots."

"Um," she cautioned, "I'm going back home. And once I figure out just what direction to go, you all can come with me. There are no Cylons, it's kind of a cool place and you guys would be welcomed."

Apollo stated, "We are looking for the thirteenth colony."

She asked offhand, "Are you sure this colony even exists?" No one could give her an answer. "What?" she looked about. "You don't even know if this colony is real? But my home is real! How many survivors do you have?"

"Thirty thousand," Adama informed.

"We can absorb that easily," she sounded.

Colonel Tigh spoke up, "We don't where your home is."

"I came here on a cosmic string," she rebutted. "I can find the way back. You have a far better chance at finding my home than some mythical thirteenth colony."

"If you can give me more hard facts about direction and distance we will consider it," Adama stated fearing her home far beyond their range.

She agreed, "I will give get those facts! But you really have to consider taking me home. Otherwise, I'm stuck here with you."

Adama spoke firmly, "If we can take you home we will. If not, then you are welcome to stay with us."

She gulped, "I can find my way home."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Kara sat at a workbench with Starbuck going over the computers and the sensors of the damaged shuttle. As she worked on her calculations, Starbuck wanted to know more about her.

He glanced over at the name on the ship and requested, "Tell me about your home…About the United States of America."

"Land of the brave and home of the free?" she asked offhand. She looked over and realized he just lost his home and he was a refugee tasked with protecting other refugees from homicidal machines. She wanted to give him hope and started to speak in more detail. "There are fifty states. I come from New York State. We have a big city and lots of farms. We have many lakes with lots of fishing. We have four seasons: Winter, spring summer and fall. Fall is my favorite because all the leaves on the trees change color. Politics aside, it great place to live and once I get back home, I will make sure you have place in any state you want to live in."

"New York sounds like a nice place," he agreed as he assisted her. "Reminds me of Caprica. We have four seasons depending where on the planet you were." His mind wandered back, "I used to love to swim in the ocean under the twin suns."

"We only have one sun," she informed. "But we also have oceans too." She grinned at him, "Me casa is your casa. My home is your home." She brushed her blonde locks back from her blue eyes and continued to work on the computer.

"You have to be the youngest major that I have ever met," Starbuck mentioned.

"I am," she confessed. "I was one of those child prodigies that never liked cartoons. All my friends were playing soccer and I was learning to fly. All my friends were going to high school and teen dances and I was in college and learning physics. I was a boring teenager. I got my commission at eighteen. I flew through the ranks at supersonic speed and was given this opportunity to fly for NASA. It's a civilian organization. So, I left the Air Force and became an astronaut."

"How old are you?" he wondered offhand.

"I'm twenty-eight," she replied. "And you?"

"I'm twenty-five," he stated.

"That's young," she insisted.

"So is twenty-eight," he smirked.

"True," she agreed. She looked over the damage, "The shuttle will need major repairs if it were to ever fly again. The cosmic string drive crystals are burned. I'm not sure of the extent of the damage yet." She then made a projection on a sheet of paper, "I know what galaxy I'm in. We call it Andromeda. It's the closest galaxy to the Milky Way." She looked up and grinned, "We're actually very close."

Starbuck looked at the trajectory and then made the mental connection, "The closest galaxy to us is past the great divide. There's nothing but space between the two galaxies. It would take quatrons to cross going top speed for the _Galactica_. We can only go as fast as the fastest ship in the fleet which is half of _Galactica's_ top speed. It could take 6 quatrons easily, maybe more."

"What's a quatron?" she wondered.

"Four sectons," he replied.

"What a secton?" she asked.

"Seven time cycles," he answered.

"And how long is a time cycle?" she wondered.

"From when you get up in the morning to when you get up the next morning," he explained.

"A day?" she asked. "That would be twenty-four hours."

"Time cycle," he repeated.

"We use hours," she reported. She placed the computer screen before him. "Look, each hour consist of sixty minutes. Each minute consist of sixty seconds. See the clock. Watch, it moves by minute every sixty seconds."

He looked at the computer and then at his wristwatch and realized they were in sync, "Micon and centon. Sixty micons equal one centon."

She grinned, "You know, our cultures nearly mirror one another. This is incredible!"

"One would almost swear you are the thirteenth colony," he remarked.

She asked, "Tell me about this missing colony."

"Well, according to legend the Lords of Kobol set forth thirteen colonies. Twelve colonies stayed together but one broke free and went to an unknown region of space."

"And since the twelve were destroyed you are looking for the thirteenth." she gathered.

"Right," he nodded. "But, honestly…I wouldn't mind going to your world and being an American. It sounds a lot like being a Caprician."

"Well, let's tell Commander Adama that we know the direction to go to get back home," she suggested.

He cautioned her, "It's a long journey, Kara."

She rebutted, "I came in a shuttle called _Starbuck_ and I met a guy named Starbuck who needs a home. If that's not the Lords of Kobol talking than I don't know what is. I mean, talk about a flashing neon sign." She exaggerated with her hands, "It's like a big flashing arrow saying 'this way.'"

Starbuck placed a cigar between his lips and grinned, "I think you might be right on that."

 **Short Time Later**

Starbuck led Kara to Adama's office. He entered with her to give her some support for he knew the journey to her home would be costly. Starbuck began, "Commander."

Adama looked up from behind his desk. He placed the handheld computer down and smiled at his guest, "I'm glad to see you again. Have you figured out where your home is?"

Kara noticed the simple furnishings of his office. A desk and a few chairs with a small sofa off to the side. The carpet was brown and walls were painted a cream color. She replied, "Starbuck and I figured it out. It's actually closer than you think."

Adama smiled, "Please have a seat." He motioned for her and Starbuck to sit on a nearby sofa. They gathered in the corner of the office on the sofa. Adama sat on a nearby chair and looked over at the pair.

Starbuck gulped and stated, "Kara thinks her home is in another galaxy."

"Oh," Adama sat interested.

She tried to explain, "We call my galaxy the 'Milky Way'. It's the closest galaxy to yours. We call your galaxy the 'Andromeda Galaxy'. Our galaxies are twin galaxies. They mirror one another. They are also moving closer and in a few million years will collide."

"Years?" asked Adama.

"Her time cycles are a little different from ours," Starbuck explained.

She spoke up, "I think they are actually very similar but we use different terminology. A micron is a second. A centon is a minute. I figured that a centar is what we call an hour and a time cycle is called day. I figured out a quatron is a month. Starbuck gave me the rate of speed the fleet is traveling at and I made the calculations and figured we can the Milky Way Galaxy in seven quatrons at the current rate of speed. You just need supplies for seven quatrons."

Adama informed, "When the Cylons wiped out our colonies they didn't give us any warning to gather supplies and good working vessels. This fleet is made up of whatever ships were left intact enough to fly. We gather what fuel and supplies we can find as we go. We don't have enough supplies or fuel to make it to your galaxy."

"Can you find the supplies and fuel you need?" she asked. "I know the situation you guys are in is pretty grave but you are also are my only hope of going home. And since you guys need a home safe and far away from those homicidal machines…I'm thinking that we should go together."

"It won't be an easy trip," he warned her. "And I need to convince the Council of Twelve to abandon finding the thirteenth colony and go to your home world."

She suggested, "I can talk to them if you want me too."

Adama asked, "Are you sure we would be welcomed by your home world?"

"Oh' yeah, they would love it," she grinned. "You see we don't have any colonies. We know we are not alone but we have not had any contact with aliens. You guys showing up and bringing me home would make ya all heroes. You would be like rock stars."

Starbuck asked, "What is a rock star? Do you throw rocks at stars?"

She grinned, "No! It's a term used to describe someone famous."

"Ah," he smirked. "We would be famous."

She nodded and spoke more to herself, "You guys would rock the house."

Adama assured her, "We don't wish to rock any houses or upset anything."

"I mean rock the house in a good way," she clarified still getting used to the difference in culture.

"We will bring the proposal to the Council of Twelve," stated Adama.

"So you guys are willing to take me home?" she asked hopeful.

Adama assured her, "I will do everything in my power to get you back home. I can't make any guarantees though. The council can be unyielding at times."

"Thank you," she smiled thinking for sure they would take her home.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Commander Adama stood before the Council of Twelve in the briefing room onboard the _Galactica_. The rag-tag fleet could be seen through the large window behind him as he addressed the men sitting at the table.

"We have an opportunity before us today," Adama stated. "As you know two of our Viper pilots discovered a foreign vessel floating in space. The pilot of this vessel is a young woman from a planet called America. This…American has invited the entire fleet to come to her world and live there…To make America our new home. Her ship is heavily damaged and she cannot go home without our help." He paused before the men, "The journey to return her to America will be a long one through the great divide between our galaxies. The fleet will need enough fuel and supplies to last seven quatrons through deep space. We can do this! I believe this is our best chance of survival for our people."

One of the elderly councilmen retorted, "What about finding the thirteenth colony? You suggest we abandon finding Earth to take her home to another galaxy?"

Adama admitted, "Yes! That is exactly what we are to do. We do not have a solid lead on where to find Earth. We don't know if it still exists. But we know America is real and though it's a long journey, we know where it is and how to get there. It's the best solution. It's not Earth but we will be safe from the Cylons." He turned sharply, "I have invited her to address the council before you cast your votes." He looked past to the door and waited just a moment. Then Apollo walked in with Kara and Starbuck behind him. Adama raised his hand, "This is the ship's pilot, Kara Thrace of America."

Kara stood before the council, still in her blue flight-suit behind Apollo and next to Starbuck. She felt more comfortable with Starbuck for he shared a rebellious spirit. Starbuck seemed more American to her than most Americans. She smiled at the council knowing her future would lie in their hands.

"I'm Kara Thrace," she looked about nervously. "It's nice to meet ya all."

Adama suggested, "The council would like to hear more about America." He could tell she seemed nervous and a bit shaky before the council.

She though the request was odd for she assumed they would want to hear about her planet rather than her country but she nervously replied, "America would welcome all of you. It's a great place to live overall. We have lots of land and lakes. We are a republic with democratically elected government…Similar to your own form what I've gathered so far…"

A councilman with gray hair combed over the top of his crown interrupted, "Your home is very far away. To bring you home the entire fleet would have to agree and we must stay together. The thirteenth colony could be much closer and provide us with the technology we need to defeat the Cylons…" He sat rather smug and didn't think much of the American. She seemed odd and alien to him. He smirked at her with cold hazel eyes.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Kara held up a hand. "I will grant you that some of your technology is pretty advanced. But as far as your software and hardware…My home is light years ahead of you. Starbuck can vouch for that. He's seen what our computers are."

The council looked at Starbuck and he had to agree, "The computers on the _Starbuck_ …Her ship…Are really advanced compared to ours. And if they get the string drive going, then America will have a technical superiority over the Cylons."

Another councilman, a white-haired man with a beard spoke up, "But Adama, I do not understand this sudden change in our plans. Just one secton ago you told me you found clues to where we can find the colony."

All eyes landed on Adama who explained, "One secton ago…Before we found you, Kara…I had discovered embedded in a Cylon transmission an account of an ancient civilization that is believed to be the lost colony. I am not positive it is but the information we intercepted indicates the thirteenth colony would be in the opposite direction of your home."

She asked, "How do you know that information wasn't planted? I mean this is an enemy, right?"

"We don't," he admitted. "But the transmission was coded and it took some time to break. We believe it's authentic."

"So, the choice is go on some wild goose chase after a thirteenth colony based on information you got from the enemy or bring me home." She looked over their faces, "I realize my fate lies in your collective hands but this seems like a no-brainer to me."

The elder councilman stated, "The council will take a vote now." He looked at her to leave.

She stood baffled, "What?"

Starbuck whispered, "We have to leave so they can take their vote."

She wondered, "In secret?"

He shrugged, "It's the way it works."

She didn't like the secrecy but had no choice, she stated as she left, "This entire fleet would be welcomed on my world. And you wanna know something else? If the Cylons do find us…They will regret it because we will nuke their asses."

"Kara," Starbuck pulled her by the sleeve. "It's time to go now." He pulled her out of the meeting before she could say anything else that would be viewed negatively.

As they waited outside of the council she leaned against the wall with a worried face for she feared they would vote no.

Starbuck couldn't help but ask, "What did you mean in there by 'nuke their asses'?"

"I'm sure you guys have nuclear weapons," she stated.

"No," Starbuck wasn't sure what weapon she was talking about was.

"A nuke is an energy based bomb that can level a major city," she replied.

Apollo asked, "You mean just one bomb can take out a big city?"

She nodded, "Yes."

"We don't have weapons like that," he told her.

She looked confused, "Then what do you guys fight them with? Laser beams?" she asked sarcastically.

"We have pulsar weapons," Apollo replied.

"You mean like…Laser beams!" she stated unsure.

"Pulsar," Starbuck corrected.

"Laser beams," she insisted on the term.

He shook his head, "Whatever."

 **A Short Time Later**

Adama emerged from the council meeting. He gave a heavy sigh and looked at Kara.

She knew by the look what the answer was, "They voted no!"

"They want to follow the clues we decoded from the intercepted transmission," he explained.

She asked, "And what was your vote?"

He gave a small smile, "I voted to take you home."

"Thank you," she gulped wanting to cry. She then figured, "I guess I'm gonna be stuck here for a while."

"Most unfortunately," he agreed.

She asked as she wiped back a tear, "You still need fighter pilots?"

"Urgently," he confessed.

"Where do I sign up?" she swallowed hard.

Adama placed his hands on her shoulders, "If this turns out to be a Cylon trap you will be placing yourself in danger."

"I placed myself in danger the moment I hit the launch button on the _Starbuck_ ," she told him. "If these things can wipe out twelve worlds then they can also set a trap to wipe out the refugees. You're gonna need all the help you can get."

Starbuck spoke to Adama, "If this does turn out to be a Cylon trap…Then we can take her home?"

"That's still up to the council," he told him. "But if the transmission we intercepted is a trap they will be less likely to fall for another." He looked at his son, "You and Starbuck should get Kara suited up, give her quarters and put her in a simulator….Get her in a Viper as soon as possible."

Apollo agreed, "Yes sir." His father walk past them towards the door when Apollo spoke, "The council voted wrong."

He looked back, "I know they did." He continued for now not only could they not send Kara home it was possible they were walking into a Cylon trap.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Kara was taken to the quarters for the female Viper pilots. She found the bunk beds and lockers were similar to what she had in the Air Force. Six women pilots were muddling about area. They too wore brown uniforms identical to what their male counterparts sported. The first thing Kara noticed was that the women all had long flowing hair that reminded her of the seventies look. She winced upon looking upon the Farrah Fawcett type hairdos.

Apollo introduced her, "Kara Thrace…Meet the other women Viper pilots. Girls, this is our newest cadet…Kara Thrace."

A woman with long auburn hair and copper-brown eyes greeted her, "I'm Serina…Apollo's fiancée."

She shook her hand and replied, "Kara Thrace….It's nice to meet you. Your fiancé saved my life."

Another brown haired girl spoke up, "You're the American! We heard about you."

She smiled pleasantly, "That's me!" She then looked at Apollo, "Why am I a cadet? I was a Major in the U.S. Air Force and a NASA pilot." To Kara her qualifications were rather sound.

"You're in training," he told her.

She gave him a look, "You're not fucking serious, are you?"

Apollo snorted, "I don't know what that curse word means but I know it's a curse word and you do not speak that way to your commanding officer."

She winced, "You are fucking serious."

Apollo sighed, "Serina will help you get changed into something less…Blue. Don't forget to wear your pressure suit underneath. Depending on how you do in the flight simulator you could be in a Viper today." He gave a nod, "Ladies." He then walked out of the women's quarters.

Serina assured her, "We'll get you set up. So, you're gonna try to fly the big boys, huh?"

Kara made a face, "I already have."

Serina told her, "Apollo and Starbuck are our two best pilots in the fleet."

"How many pilots do you got?" she wondered.

"Two hundred," she informed.

She gulped, "That's it?"

"That's enough," she assured her. She wondered offhand, "What is NASA?"

"A civilian space program that only the best pilots qualify for," she informed.

Curiously Serina shifted her weight, "How many pilots did you have to beat to get that job?"

"Couple thousand," she told her.

She cocked an eyebrow, "I hope you're as good as a pilot as you claim to be. We can use you."

Kara shook her head and gave a disgusted laugh, "Yeah, use me is right. The council just voted to go looking for some phantom thirteenth colony instead of bringing me back home."

Serina found that odd and asked, "Where is your home?"

"In another Galaxy," she miffed. "It would take too long to get there."

"I'm sure they had good reason," she told her. "Adama is a good man. He would bring you home if he could."

She rolled her eyes, "It's not up to him. So, where is my ugly brown uniform that's a throw-back to the seventies?"

"I beg your pardon?" she asked.

"Never mind," she sighed frustrated. "Just get me set up."

"This way," she motioned towards the lockers.

 **Short Time Later**

Kara had changed into the brown uniform that she absolutely hated. It wasn't cool looking or even comfortable. She buckled the high boots and wiggled her toes as she looked herself over. "This is just…Awful. Who designed your uniforms?"

"It's all we have," Serina told her.

"The Air Force was so much better," she sighed.

Starbuck had come to collect her for the simulator. He walked into the quarters and spotted her standing next to Serina in the brown uniform. "Well, that's way better." he cheered rather pleased.

She threw him a look, "You're kidding."

"What?" he asked walking over to her. "You look good…Like real Viper pilot."

"Then why do I feel like I just walked into a seventies' fashion nightmare?" she complained.

"I'm not sure I follow," Starbuck admitted.

She waved her hand, "Never mind…Let's just go."

Starbuck motioned, "After you." She walked past him and he followed still smiling.

Serina watched as Starbuck followed Kara out the door and winced. "Oh' that's not good."

One of the girls asked, "She's pretty odd."

"That too," Serina agreed. "And Starbuck really likes her. Athena isn't gonna be happy at all."

 **Meanwhile**

As Starbuck strolled through the halls with Kara, his second girlfriend Cassiopeia walked up from behind and hugged him tight. He nearly jumped out of his boots as he came to a halt.

"Cassiopeia," he huffed surprised.

Kara turned swiftly and spotted the young long blonde haired beauty. She cocked an eyebrow for she was informed prior that the Commander's daughter and Apollo's sister, Athena was Starbuck's girlfriend by Apollo who mentioned it offhand.

"You miss me?" Cassiopeia asked him with a giggle.

"Of course," he stated nervously. "Cassiopeia…Meet Cadet Kara Thrace. I'm training her."

Kara rubbed her temple and stuck out a hand, "Nice to meet you."

Cassiopeia looked Kara over and gently took her hand, "Nice to meet you too. You are that girl they found."

Kara shifted her weight, "Let's get one thing straight. I'm not a girl! I'm an adult, not a child. I am a fighter pilot. I held the rank of Major and though I resigned my commission to fly for NASA, I am now a fighter pilot again. You can call me a Cadet Thrace. You can call me Major Thrace…But do not call me 'that girl' again, okay?"

"Okay," she wasn't sure how to respond.

Starbuck told her, "We have to get going now."

She grinned rather bubbly, "I'll see ya tonight."

He gave a slight nod, "Tonight." Starbuck then led Kara further down the hall.

She asked, "I take you have more than one girlfriend?"

"It's complicated," he admitted. He then asked, "You?"

"I had this guy named Lee. He was a fighter pilot too but we broke up." she informed.

"Oh, why?" he wondered.

She grinned, "The _Starbuck_ _Project_ won my heart."

"Oh," he understood she was referring to the shuttle. He opened the door to the flight simulator and there before them was a mockup of a Viper cockpit. He instructed, "That's your flight simulator. You climb in and I'll show how to fly it."

"Okay," she peered inside, "This looks like a jet fighter cockpit."

"Viper cockpit," he told her.

She complied and climbed inside. She slid down in the seat and looked about the instrument panel and named the gauges, "Horizon, stabilizers, navigation panel, fuel indicator…"

Starbuck smiled, "You got it! Now, this is the most advanced fighter craft known to man. It's very sensitive on the stick."

She smirked, "We have one of them…We call it the plane that ate the Pentagon."

He pondered, "How does a plane eat a pentagon?"

She told him, "That was a joke."

He admitted, "I don't quite get your sense of humor at times."

"The Pentagon is a building that houses all the military branches' headquarters and accounting offices. The plane was so advanced and so expensive it broke the budget. Hence, it ate the Pentagon."

"Ah," he thought about the concept, "kind of like breaking the house in a game of pyramid."

"Kind of," she agreed. "So, what does turbo do?"

"That gives you a boost from the engines." he told her.

She clapped her hands, "Okay, let's do this teach."

He placed the gold helmet on her head, "You need your helmet."

She removed it and looked at the odd helmet, "What the hell? What is with you guys and pyramids anyways? This thing looks like a pharaoh headdress."

He asked, "A what?"

She shook her head and placed the helmet back on, "Never mind! You guys would love Giza."

"Giza?" he asked unsure.

"Popular vacation site," she explained.

He promised, "Someday you will get back home and you can show me Giza."

"Promise?" she grinned.

"Promise," he agreed. "Now, let's see just how good of a pilot are you."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Kara had proven her skills in the simulator and soon found herself sitting the cockpit of a real Viper wearing the ugliest uniform she ever could have imagined. She wasn't a colonial! She wasn't part of the twelve colonies. She was an American and in true American spirit, she volunteered to help defeat killer machines. To Kara the Cylons were just machines and thus they had to have an off switch. She knew the Cylons were dangerous but she did underestimate their collective capability.

If there one thing about the colonial fleet that Kara found irritating it was the tendency of the men to treat women like…Well, women. An arrogant tone was often directed at the females for they were the weaker sex and though the women were recently given the opportunity to become fighter pilots, Kara found working and living with the aliens to be a throwback to the mentality of the nineteen-sixties and seventies. She secretly wished she could have an alter ego, like Jamie Summers of the _Bionic Woman_ and kick the speaker of the next sexist remark in the crotch. The oddest thing she found about Starbuck was his ability to flirt on a sexist level and yet be more than willing to have a woman do a man's job. She also found him funny and entertaining.

Starbuck was in the cockpit of the nearby Viper. He spoke to his student over the microphone, "Okay Kara…Once we get in the launch tube you hit the launch button. The G-force will be kind of heavy…"

Kara sat with the most bizarre look, "I'm well aware of the G-forces, Starbuck. The shuttle I came in launched straight up like a rocket."

He pondered, "It did? Hmm…I assumed it flew up like an airplane."

"It only lands like an airplane," she rebutted. "It's not very aerodynamic over all. It's like flying a brick on a stick."

"A brick on a stick, huh?" he readied his vessel. "Sounds like flying a Viper."

"Starbuck," she started, "don't you guys use call signs?"

"Call signs?" he laughed. "We just call each other by our names. I'm Starbuck and you're Kara."

"I suppose that's simple enough," she sighed.

"I will launch first. As soon as I am clear of the launch tube then you launch," he instructed.

"Okay," she sighed.

Starbuck pressed the launch button on the joystick and ignited the engines. His Viper rocketed down the launch tube and then clearing the _Galactica_. Kara took a deep breath and hit the launch button. She felt like she was back in Cape Canaveral for a moment as the G-force pushed her back in the seat. She emerged from the _Galactica_ and took manual control of the craft.

Starbuck radioed, "Good job on that exist, Kara. You did that like a pro. Now the controls can be a little touchy."

"I got it," she sounded after feeling out the controls. It was no more touchy than any fighter she flew in the Air Force maybe even less so.

"Alright," he noticed she seemed to have the Viper under control. "Let's fly around the fleet to stretch our legs."

For the first time Kara got a good look at the size of the fleet and the ships involved. As they cruised through the fleet she noticed the different sizes and shapes of the ships. She came across a fright vessel, "We move anywhere?" she noticed the writing.

"Freighter," he told her.

"All these ships are full of refugees," she wondered.

"Refugees and supplies," he informed.

"It's a lot," she agreed a bit taken.

Starbuck took notice of her skills, "You seem to be a natural at that, Kara. How about we go ahead of the fleet and do a little scouting?"

"Sure," she agreed.

"Starbuck to the _Galactica_ ," he spoke into the radio as he brought his Viper around.

"This is the _Galactica_ ," Athena's voice replied.

"I'm taking my cadet out for a scout ahead of the ships," he told her.

Commander Adama's voice came over the radio, "Are you sure that's wise, Starbuck? It's her first time out."

"She's doing really well," he replied confident.

"I want another man with you," Adama insisted. "I'm sending out Apollo for your patrol."

"Yes sir," he sounded a bit down.

"He doesn't trust me," she assumed.

Starbuck replied, "That's not it, Kara. It's just if we run across Cylons he wants two seasoned fighter pilots."

"And I'm not seasoned," she gathered annoyed.

"Not yet," he agreed.

Within a short time Apollo's Viper emerged from the _Galactica_. His voice crackled over the radio, "Starbuck, Kara…I will be going with you on patrol. I'm taking the lead position."

"Lead the way," she miffed. To Kara she was a seasoned combat fighter pilot and a Major. She technically out ranked Apollo and yet, she was treated like a new cadet.

Apollo detected some attitude from his new Viper pilot, "That's not how you address a commanding officer, cadet."

"Yes sir," she miffed.

Apollo let the attitude go for now and took the lead of the patrol. The three Vipers flew ahead of the fleet to scout out the route. The patrol was unusually quiet as tensions between Apollo and Kara mounted. He felt like as if she was disrespectful towards him while she felt like was being treated like a child.

Nearly an hour later the patrol picked up unusual activity on their scanners. Apollo stated, "I'm going to fly ahead and check this out."

Starbuck replied, "We'll hang back until you call us."

"Keep an eye on the cadet," he ordered and hit the turbo boost on the joystick rocketing his Viper ahead.

"I will," Starbuck assured as they followed from a distance.

Kara looked on as Apollo's Viper deduced in size the further away it got. She looked at her long range scanners and noticed three blips coming towards Apollo.

"Starbuck," she radioed.

"Yeah," he answered.

"You check long range scanners?" she asked.

"Switching to long range now," he replied. "Great, three hits. Let's see what we got." he placed the computer to identify mode. The results were clear, "Three hostiles. Looks like you're gonna get your first chance at battle."

"Okay," she agreed. "Do we need permission to engage from the _Galactica_?"

"Once you have a positive ID you have permission," he informed. "Hit your turbo, Apollo will need backup."

Apollo meanwhile had come in contact with the three Cylon fighters. He identified them as short range scouting ships, "Starbuck, I have three Cylon scouts. These are short range ships."

"We're right behind ya," Starbuck assured him.

The three Cylon wing shaped ships came into view. Kara held back to observe for she was aeronautical engineer and ship design was one of her expertise. She found them very efficient in design. She watched as the lead ship concentrated all firepower on Apollo's Viper.

Starbuck engaged from behind Apollo and took out the port side wingman. Apollo was in a dogfight with the leader. She merely watched as Starbuck and Apollo took out both lead ships and the starboard Cylon scout ship. She studied the tactic and maneuvers and pondered improvement.

Starbuck cheered, "We got em! Sorry you didn't get a chance to take one out, Kara. Better luck next time, huh."

"I was watching how you two work together," she admitted.

Apollo smiled, "I hope you learned something."

"I got some great data on that." She went over her sensors and recordings and switched back to long range scanners, "Guys…Um…What am I picking up on long range?"

Apollo and Starbuck both went to long range scanners and soon they identified a massive number of Cylon ships behind a nearby asteroid floating through space.

"Apollo," Starbuck gulped. "I think we just stumbled onto a base."

"There has to be a Base Star here," Apollo agreed. "The scouts couldn't be out here without it."

As they rounded the large asteroid Kara spotted dozens of Cylon fighters and a large ship shaped like a clam shell. She asked, "What's that clam shell shaped ship?"

"That big one is a Cylon Base Star," Starbuck informed.

"Oh," she made a face. "What do we do with it?"

"Run," stated Starbuck.

Apollo added, "We have to get back to the fleet and warn them."

The three Vipers started a retreat to warn the _Galactica_. But soon the Cylon fighters were closing in and Kara's Viper was hit on the top engine thus slowing her considerably. "I'm hit," she radioed. "I lost the main engine."

Starbuck turned his viper around, "Just hang on Kara."

Apollo stated, "We need to warn the fleet."

"I'm not leaving her behind," he told his friend.

Kara looked at her short rang scanner and noticed two Cylon squadrons closing in on her. She radioed, "You guys warn the fleet. I should have died when you found me in that shuttle." She then dropped the nose and cut the power to the secondary engine and activated the auxiliary stabilizer to the starboard side, causing the entire vessel to flip on end and face to the oncoming Cylon fighters. She hit the engine button and went right for the Cylons aiming for the two lead ships.

Starbuck blinked upon witnessing the maneuver, "How did she do that?"

Apollo had come about to aid and witness the flip maneuver as well, "I'm not sure. That was never taught in the Academy."

Kara had taken out the leaders and found that was a weakness for the wingman became very vulnerable and neither ship took over as leader of the squadron. She continued onward for she had nothing to lose. She could never go home and she understood she would have been declared dead back home anyways. There would be no rescue effort, no ships looking for her…Just her and a rag-tag group of refugees. Deciding that her fate had been sealed she simply put herself on a suicide run. Apollo and Starbuck followed her into the fight as more Cylons engaged them.

"Shouldn't you guys be warning the fleet," she told them.

Apollo lost his brother Zac because he left him behind to warn the fleet. He couldn't bring himself to do that twice. He nervously laughed, "I don't know, three Vipers against a Cylon Base Star. I would say we have them outnumbered."

Starbuck nervously agreed, "I would say so too."

She asked, "What will destroy that thing? Where is the soft spot?"

Apollo told her, "There is an exhaust shaft in the middle of the Base Star. It's heavily guarded though. But a few well-placed pulsars will take out the whole Base Star.

"Can I target it on the computer?" she asked as she readied for the next engagement. "I'll keep them busy while you guys warn the fleet."

Apollo affirmed, "You can, just bring up and Base Star and it will automatically show you were to go."

She found the program and figured it was a suicide mission for sure, "Yeah, that's kind of tricky."

Starbuck grinned, "That's half the fun of it."

She smirked to herself, "Damn, you sure you're not an American, Starbuck? Because you sound like one." She set the program for the attack. "These things are programmed machines, right?"

"Right," Apollo agreed as he fired on incoming fighters.

"What will these things do if they think we are suicidal?" she wondered.

Apollo guessed, "Considering usually we just run…I'm not sure….Shoot us I suppose."

"Let's try a head on attack, aim just for the squad leaders," she told them. "Let's use a tactic called 'plowing the road'."

Starbuck shrugged, "Let's plow the road."

The three Vipers went head first into the battle. They targeted the lead vessels and soon found they were on an attack run for the main exhaust port of the Base Star. Massive pulsar blast erupted from the ship but the Vipers were too low and too close to the main ship for the massive guns to hit them.

Kara found the targeting computer had lit up as she neared the port. She muttered to herself, "I feel like Luke Skywalker taking out the Death Star."

Apollo's voice came over her radio, "It will take all three off us to take that that exhaust. Kara fires first and then pulls away. Starbuck you fire next and I will fire last. Then get as far away as possible."

"Roger that," Kara replied.

Starbuck wondered who Roger was but let the name go. He and Apollo knew they had to fire consecutively but hang back enough for Kara to clear the blast. He watched as Kara's damaged Viper took the first round at the critical exhaust. It was a direct hit but simply not enough to take out the regulators inside. He fired next and took out two targets, a regulating tower and then aimed for the exhaust.

As Starbuck pulled away he radioed, "It's all yours Apollo." He then continued to engage the swarm of fighters near the Base Star.

Apollo made his run and announced, "Direct hit…Get out of here." He hit booster button and rocketed forward.

Starbuck was right behind him as the Base Star went up in spectacular fashion.

Kara sat on the edge of the blast zone and road the shockwave like she was on a surfboard. She remained ahead of the inferno that was behind her and came off the shockwave with calculated precision.

Struck and Apollo turned back around to help fend off any straggling Cylon fighters but found most went into a retreat or were destroyed in the blast. After taking out of few surviving Cylon fighters it suddenly hit them that they won the battle and their cadet survived.

"Whew, I don't think anyone is gonna believe this," Starbuck stated.

Kara agreed shocked, "I don't believe it and I just lived it."

Apollo laughed, "They may not believe us but we just took out a Base Star single handed."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Starbuck and Apollo were credited for single-handedly saving their cadet and destroying a Base Star in the process. Somehow, everything that Kara did to help seemed to have washed over deaf ears as the rumors placed her as a damsel in distress. It took three ace pilots, flying what should been a suicide mission, to stop the Base Star from attacking the rag-tag fleet but somehow the feat was completed by two heroes and one cadet who apparently could barely fly.

Kara was called into Adama's office after he was debriefed by Apollo and Starbuck on what transpired. She assumed the pair had downplayed her part and fully expected to be reprimanded for recklessness. She stood at Adama's door and took a deep breath before entering.

"You wanted to see me, sir?" she walked in and came to attention before him.

Adama looked up from his report and smiled at her, "I did!" He leaned back in his chair, "Apollo and Starbuck told me what you did out there today."

She winced, "They did?" She figured the rumors must have been started by the pair for Starbuck seemed to exaggerate in his stories. Though in reality the fighter pilots simply assumed that the pair had saved her after finding she had lost the main engine.

"Yes they did," he nodded. He gave a stern look that was nearly comical, "You realize you broke a lot of rules out there. You nearly got yourself killed. You placed the Viper into a maneuver that no one has ever done before. And you took on what could only be described as a suicide mission."

She agreed while remaining at attention, "Yes sir."

He asked, "Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

She pondered for a minute but there nothing she could say, "No sir."

Adama added, "By all accounts you should be dead. You do realize that?"

"Yes sir," she nodded for it was true.

He teased, "What do you think the best course of punishment should be?"

She cocked an eye, "Sir?"

He played the game and asked, "What should I do with you? You demonstrated an uncanny ability to fly out there. You are the only female pilot on this ship who can fly as good as my son and as good as Starbuck. What should I do with you, Lieutenant Thrace?"

She stood baffled, "Did you just call me 'lieutenant'?"

"I did," he smiled at her. "I will be placing you under my son's command. You will be flying with his squadron." He sat forward in the chair and asked, "How did you do that maneuver when you flipped the Viper one hundred and eighty degrees? I'm a Viper pilot myself and I'm trying to figure what you did in that cockpit."

"I cut the engines and used the auxiliary stabilizers on the side to flip it," she explained.

"That's a maneuver that was never taught in the Academy. I want you to teach that to Apollo and Starbuck. They will teach it to the rest. How did you figure that maneuver out so fast?"

"It's similar to my shuttle," she explained. "I have a master's degree in aeronautical engineering. I design planes. The Vipers are brick on a stick. It's a simple case of physics."

Adama placed his hand to his lip in thought. He had an aeronautical engineer who was also an ace fighter pilot at his disposal and he couldn't let that go to waste. "I want you to take a Viper out and see what other unorthodox maneuvers you can come up with. The Cylons have learned most of our maneuvers. I need you to come up with new ones…Maneuvers the Cylons have never seen before."

Surprised she replied, "Yes sir. I'm not being punished?"

Adama explained, "We are all that's left of twelve civilizations. We don't need to punish those who can teach us something new."

She stood flabbergasted, "Wow…Thank you."

He gave a warm smile, "Thank you! Finding that Base Star proved that the transmission we intercepted and decoded was a trap designed to lure us into danger. I have since changed course." 

She wondered, "You will be taking me home then?"

"I wish I could," he sighed. "But the fleet has to move as one and everyone has to agree to take you home."

Her shoulders slunk, "So I will never go home."

He tried to give her hope and suggested, "We will find a new home for everyone."

"But my home wasn't destroyed," she countered. "It's still there! This wonderful little blue planet...The third rock from the sun...Full of life and…"

"We're all homesick," he told her.

She closed her eyes for a moment and gathered her thoughts. She didn't want to sound selfish but she couldn't help it, "But we don't have to be homesick. We can just go to Earth and that will be everyone's home."

"We're trying to find it," Adama replied. He was bit baffled on why she suddenly brought up Earth when she talking about America.

She gave a cocked eyed look, "What?"

"We are looking for the thirteenth colony," he reminded.

Kara stood puzzled, "You just said you are looking for Earth."

He nodded, "Right."

She seemed confused, "But what about this mythical thirteenth colony everyone keeps talking about?"

He replied, "It's on a planet called Earth. You have heard about Earth on America?" He noticed the very confused look upon her face and wondered why she was so confused.

She asked, "Do you think America is a planet?"

He became confused himself, "Is it not?"

She shook her head, "We have countries. America is name of my country. The name of my planet is Earth."

Adama's jaw dropped, "You're from Earth!"

She nodded wide-eyed, "Yeah!"

He gasped, "You're from the thirteenth colony."

Kara held up her hands, "I don't know anything about a thirteenth colony."

He suddenly understood the miscommunication, "The name of your planet is Earth and the United States of America is your country. We have not used countries or states in eons. When you told my son you from America we assumed it was the name of your planet."

She gasped, "You guys are looking for my planet!"

He added, "And you know how to find it."

She stated, "It will takes months and we have those damn homicidal machines to worry about."

Adama promised her, "Kara…We are going to take you home."

She was still baffled, "But doesn't the Council of Twelve have to okay that?"

He smiled, "I will explain the miscommunication. But crossing that void will be tedious and many ships will not make it unless we can find another way."

She pondered, "The only other way to get back to my galaxy is on a cosmic string and you guys don't have that technology."

"Could you duplicate the technology?" he wondered.

"I have no idea," she winced. "I was part of a team…I didn't make that shuttle all by myself."

"At least now we know where Earth is and it will be a long journey to get there," he told her. "We will need time to ready the fleet for the journey and gather supplies and fuel. We will also have to consolidate space to store that extra food, water and fuel we will need."

She gulped, "And do all that while avoiding the Cylons."

"Yes," he confirmed.

She winced at the daunting task, "Maybe we can find a shortcut?"

"Let's hope so," he agreed and made a request, "One thing worries me. That transmission we decoded made references to the thirteenth colony and Earth. The Cylons know we are looking for it and the only way they could know that is if there is a traitor in our midst. I don't want you to tell anyone you from Earth just yet. Let them think the name of your planet is America."

"You want me to lie?" she asked baffled.

"If the Cylons find out that you are from Earth and find out where it is, they will attack your home world. We can't place your world in danger. We have to find a way to Earth but do so in a way that the Cylons will never find it," He explained.

"If we hop on a cosmic string it will be like a line drawn right to it in space," she gulped. "The Cylons could be there in months."

"Which is why we must keep this a secret, Kara. It's the only way we can protect your world."

"Things just got complicated," she winced.

He assured her, "Just make sure you don't mention the name of your planet. Let everyone think your planet is named America. No one needs to know it's a country. America is not in any ancient text. Your country might just save us and your planet from the Cylons."

She sighed, "Don't let them take credit for something they didn't do. Trust me, DC will eat that up."

"DC?" he asked curiously.

"That's our version of the Council of Twelve…But it's a lot more than twelve…" she miffed.

"I find your world more and fascinating every time you speak of it," he assured her.

"DC will fascinate ya all right," she muttered.

He insisted, "You will have to tell me all about it."

"Sure," she agreed. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course," he smiled.

"What does 'frack' mean?" she asked. "I keep hearing the guys say it but I have no idea what it means."

He calmly replied, "It a curse word! It's an obscenity in our culture. I'm sure Earth has curse words as well."

She nodded, "Plenty of them. I didn't mean to say the word if it's a curse word."

"You should tell me what to expect on Earth. What curse words does your culture have?"

She asked, "You mean the really bad ones or the mild curse words?"

He cocked an eye, "You have different levels of curse words?"

She grinned, "We even acronyms for curse words. When it comes to swearing Earth has a whole new level of ingenious include gestures and hand signals."

Adama sat rather baffled, "You use hand signals for obscenities? Can you show me?"

She blushed, "I'm too embarrassed to. You guys are really sweet and kind here. The guys are all so gentlemen like….Except for Starbuck. He would kind of fit right in on Earth. We're basically an entire planet full of Starbucks."

Adama's imagination conjured up a planet full of men and women who acted just like Starbuck. He suddenly shivered.

She asked, "You okay? You seemed to have gone a little pale there."

"I'll be fine," he assured her trying to shake the image from his mind.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Adama's concern for Earth being attacked by the Cylons echoed through Kara's mind as she made her way through the corridors of the _Galactica_. For the first time she felt like an alien invasion of epic proportions was a real possibility and what was worse, she had the potential of being the one person to bring the Cylon fleet down on her home planet. Suddenly Kara's position had shifted from being a homesick NASA pilot lost in space to having to protect her home world from an alien invasion. She couldn't let the Cylons find Earth at any cost. Seven billion lives were now her hands and it was a responsibility she honestly could have done without. She decided there was no way she was letting the last standing colony fall to homicidal machines and protecting Earth may mean never returning home. She mentally shifted gears. She was no longer a civilian in a space program. She was now a fighter pilot once more and rules of engagement weren't the same. She had to come up with new maneuvers that the Cylons never saw before.

Kara walked into the men's quarters and found Starbuck and his friends in a game of cards. He sat at the table with a cigar clenched in his teeth and bluffed his friends out of their money.

"Any takers?" he asked with a gleam in his eye.

"I fold," stated Boomer. He was the only black man at the table but from what Kara heard as good of a pilot as Starbuck and Apollo and that was all that mattered to her. She didn't care about gender, color or religion. Her only concern was protecting Earth.

Next at the table was a chunky man with a mustache named Jolly. Apparently he was more of an average pilot from what she gathered. He threw down his octagon shaped cards, "I'm out."

A skinny blond haired kid sighed and folded his cards too. "I'm out," stated Greenbean.

Starbuck grinned, folded his cards and took the pot, "I guess it's all mine then."

Boomer asked, "What was your hand?"

"Does it matter?" he smirked at him.

Boomer reached for the cards and flipped them over, "You were bluffing!"

"That's how the game is played," Starbuck reminded taking the cubit coins.

Kara leaned against a bunkbed and gave a cocked-eyed smile, "You would love Vegas!"

Starbuck looked up, "Kara!" His eyes sparkled, "I didn't see you come in."

"I was just watching your game," she replied.

Boomer looked over at her and smiled, "I know who you are but we haven't really met yet. I'm Boomer!"

"Kara Thrace," She held out a hand to him. "I just made lieutenant."

Boomer shook her hand, "You're first cadet to make lieutenant in a time cycle."

Starbuck cheered, "She's my child prodigy! She's the first cadet to help take down a Base Star on their first flight too." He dug into his pocket and retrieved a cigar and held it up to Kara, "Cigar?"

Kara was always the good girl who never did drugs, smoked or drank. But after realizing she was all that stood between Earth and alien invasion she decided to give it a try. She took the cigar and shrugged, "Sure." She looked it over, "How do you smoke this thing?"

Starbuck rose to his feet and retrieved a lighter. "Just bite that end off and spit it out."

She gave a strange look, "Bite the end off and spit it out?"

"Ah-ha," he nodded eager to teach Kara every bad habit he developed.

She complied and made a funny face, "That is nasty."

"You get used to it," he told her. "Now, stick the other end in your mouth and when I put the lighter on the end that you just bit off, you suck in a breath."

Kara did as he instructed but she sucked in a breath too hard and the smoke went right to her lungs. She coughed and gagged as the men at the table all started laughing at her.

Starbuck was more concerned and told her, "Don't suck in deep. Just fill your mouth but don't inhale. Try it again."

Kara regained her composure and did as he instructed. Taking small puffs of air and not inhaling deep. She could taste the flavor of the cigar, "Kind of sweet."

He grinned, "Yeah! It's kind of sweet tasting. See, you got it! I'll make a fighter pilot out of you yet."

She reminded, "I'm already a fighter pilot."

Boomer sounded, "He wants to make you into the female version of himself!"

She looked at the cigar in her hand, "Now this makes sense."

Starbuck rebutted, "I do not! I just want to make sure she is seen as the pilot she is. She lost her main engine on retreat. She flipped the Viper one hundred and eighty degrees on end and then went head on into two squadrons of Cylon scout ships and took out the leader of each squadron." He patted her shoulder, "She's my prodigy. She was delivered to us by the Lords of Kobol in a shuttle named after me."

She looked at him amused, "You are gonna just love it in America! There is a _Starbucks_ coffee shop on every corner."

Boomer asked, "On your world there is a coffee shop named _Starbucks_ on every corner?" His mind conjured up a bizarre world where there was nothing but coffee shops filled with his images of his friend.

"I'm exaggerating," she told him, "One in nearly every town. That and a _McDonalds_."

Starbuck asked, "What is a _McDonalds_?"

"A hamburger place," she replied without much thought.

"What's hamburger?" he wondered.

She then recalled Hamburg was a town the ground meat was named after. She explained, "It's cooked ground up meat, shaped into a patty and made into a sandwich."

Boomer huffed, "Sounds like a meat patty on a bun."

Starbuck snorted, "I like those! I kind of miss 'em."

Greenbean added, "I miss sausage. You know, making a fire on the grill in the backyard and cooking out with all your friends. I miss that."

"We have those! We call them a barbeque! When we get to…America…I'll make sure we have a giant cookout and picnic just for the _Galactica_ and her men…And women."

Greenbean stated, "We're going to find Earth. We're not going to America."

She smiled suspiciously but didn't say a word.

Starbuck caught the look and wonder what she was hiding. He wondered if perhaps Adama had agreed to go America after all and was trying to find a way to get the council to go along with it. Perhaps, they were going to her home world instead of finding Earth.

He asked, "You didn't come here just to watch us play pyramid, did you?"

"Nope," she grinned. "I came to collect you. Adama wants me to teach you and Apollo how I did the flip maneuver. Then you guys have to teach the rest."

"Sounds like a plan," he cheered. "Apollo is training some cadets in the simulators now. Let's go get him."

"Sounds like a plan," She grinned back and placed the cigar between her teeth and mimicked his moves in a teasing way.

Starbuck cocked an eyebrow for his jokes about Kara being his prodigy was staring back at him. He made a face and motioned, "Come on."

 **Short Time Later**

Apollo was rather surprised his father had taken such a liking to Kara in such short time. He ordered his son to go out in a Viper with Kara Thrace and Starbuck to come up with new maneuvers the Cylons wouldn't recognize and learn the flip maneuver that Kara executed prior. They went ahead of the fleet a short distance and started the runs.

Apollo made the first attempt to duplicate the maneuver. He cut the engine and activated the side auxiliary ports but instead of flipping one hundred and eighty degrees he went into a roll. He stabilized the craft and made a face for maneuver was harder than she made it look.

Starbuck's voice crackled over the radio, "I guess that maneuver isn't so easy after all."

Apollo huffed, "I can do it."

"Your nose is sticking up," Kara told him over the radio.

"Excuse me," Apollo assumed she was speaking about him personally.

"Your Viper's nose is up," she explained. "It has to be down to flip."

"Viper's nose down," he sighed and readied for another run. He started the Viper once more; cut the engine, pushed the stick forward and hit the auxiliary ports. The Viper flipped on end and he ended up facing the oncoming Vipers. Apollo noted, "That's a heck of a maneuver."

Starbuck stated, "Let me take a run at it now." He went past Apollo and then made the same flip maneuver. As he sat facing the way he came he understood, "That messes with your head for bit."

Kara grinned, "Oh' come on boys! It's just a single flip. I take it gymnastics was never your thing."

Starbuck agreed, "Nope, it was never my thing."

Apollo asked, "You have gymnastics on America?"

She nodded, "I take it you guys do too."

"Yeah!" He pondered how American could have so many similarities to the colonies.

Kara added, "Your father gave me a handbook to study for what you guys learned in the Academy but since I don't know all of your terminology it wasn't much use to me…So, other than what I saw you guys do in that fight, what other maneuvers do you guys use?"

"Our most common maneuver is to slip behind the Cylon fighters using a reverse thruster," Starbuck to her.

"Yeah, I got the modified slip maneuver. It's a basic dogfight maneuver."

"What's a dogfight," asked Apollo.

"What's a dog?" asked Starbuck.

She winced, "You know…A dog! A Canine! Um…Oh' Boxy has a robot version of a dog."

"That's a daggit," Apollo told her.

"Okay, daggitfight!" she exasperated.

Starbuck grinned, "Daggitfight! I like it. We'll call these new maneuvers daggitfighting."

Kara closed her eyes briefly trying to understand Starbuck but at times even she was baffled by him. She shook her head unsure what to make of the new term.

Apollo grinned in agreement, "Okay, daggitfighting it is! You got any other daggitfighting maneuvers from your world, Kara?"

She pondered back to her days at the stick of a vintage warbird and recalled a maneuver that was long gone and no longer taught in the Air Force that her grandfather had taught her. "A spin!" she radioed.

She took the viper out ahead and cut the engine and employed one set of port auxiliary stabilizers to put the viper into a spin. As it spun like a top she hit the top fuselage stabilizer and started to descend in space. She then cut the top stabilizer port and hit the bottom fuselage stabilizers and ascended in space while spinning.

She then brought the Viper out of the spin and added, "You can also fire pulsars during that maneuver."

Apollo asked, "Where did you learn to do something like that?"

"My grandfather was in pilot in World War Two. He taught it to me," she replied wondering if she should have mentioned the old war afterwards.

"You had a world war?" asked Starbuck. "Like the world was at war with…What?"

"From your point of view, I guess you could call it a global civil war," she told him. "We were fighting each other."

Starbuck wondered, "Who won such a war?"

"We have countries and some countries won," she told him wincing.

"You have countries?" asked Apollo. "What was the name of your country?"

She made a face and couldn't tell him the truth so she made up a lie, "My country is…Tatoonie." She kicked herself for all she could come up with was Luke Skywalker's home planet.

"Sounds like a nice country," stated Starbuck.

Apollo joked, "For a minute there I thought you were gonna say the United States of America was your country."

"No, I can't say that." she admitted. "Let's see if any other of old maneuvers can be applied to the Vipers."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

A few weeks had passed and Kara began to adjust to her new life as a fighter pilot on the _Galactica_. She was slowly getting used to her new surroundings. She started making more friends as time went by. Yet, she was also worried as to whom the spy could have been and thus tried to keep her distance out of fear she would expose Earth to the Cylons…Which made her popularity level plummet with the other women and some of the men.

Her fears were mistaken for vanity. The other women assumed that due to her close ties with Starbuck and Apollo that she had an inflated ego and was the reason for her not wanting to be very chummy with the other pilots and crew. They had no idea of the secret she had been burdened with and could only come to assumptions about the new lieutenant. The fact that Kara was also given the rank of lieutenant in one day also raised a few eyebrows as well. All the other female fighter pilots were still cadets and the fact that Kara was shoved into a rank and given a Viper so fast was reason for some jealously.

But no one was more jealous of Kara than Cassiopeia. Every time Starbuck smiled at Kara, Cassiopeia nearly hit the roof. Not even Athena was as envious of Kara as Cassiopeia.

Cassiopeia racked her brain trying to figure out why Starbuck liked Kara Thrace so much. Kara was pretty but not as pretty as Cassiopeia. She wasn't graceful in any means. Matter of fact Kara Thrace was practically a tomboy. She hung out with the guys, she smoked cigars and made snide remarks to Starbuck and he seemed to like her more and more with each passing day. It seemed to Cassiopeia the more Kara acted like a man the more Starbuck seemed to be captivated by her.

But Kara had a problem. She couldn't understand some of the terminology used and even some of the writing seemed foreign to her and she needed to figure out what the terms meant that the colonies used in their daily activity. She also had no grasp of their history and Adama understood Kara would need to act as a liaison between the fleet and Earth once the spy was rooted out and it was safe to bring her home. He decided to groom her for the critical role. He needed someone in the fleet who could teach Kara their traditions and history. He found that tutor in Cassiopeia who really didn't have much to do at the moment.

Cassiopeia knocked on the door of the female Viper pilot's barracks. Apollo's fiancée Serina opened the door and greeted her, "Cassiopeia!"

"Adama sent me to tutor the American," she stated not enthused.

She opened to door, "She's on her bunk." She then motioned towards Kara.

Kara sat on her bunk with a pad of paper and a pencil jotting down mathematics for possible new Viper maneuvers to work on. She smoked a cigar and diligently fiddled with the ideas.

Cassiopeia graciously walked over and presented a book, "Commander Adama asked me to tutor you in our history, languages and traditions."

Kara didn't even look up, "Just a second." She wanted to finish the advance mathematical problem she was solving.

"Is second an American word?" she asked.

"Just a micron," she corrected herself.

Serina asked, "I take it that a second in American means micron!"

"It's called English and yes," she nodded as she fished the math problem. She placed the paper down. "Okay! So you're my new teach!"

Serina took a look at the pad, "What are you working on Kara?"

"Physics," she stated. She swung her feet off the bed and motioned for Cassiopeia to sit at the nearby table. "Have a seat, teach."

The woman asked, "Is teach short for teacher?"

She grinned, "Amazing how much America is similar to your culture."

Serina wisped back her long brown hair, "One would swear you're from the thirteenth colony at times."

Kara downplayed it for she had no idea who the spy could be, "Obviously not! You guys are looking for Earth and I'm not from there. I'm an American. America is nowhere near Earth!"

Serina found it odd how Kara would insist she was not from Earth over the last few weeks. It was if she went out of her way to distance herself from any such notion. She said nothing but kept a mental note of behavior.

Cassiopeia could have cared less for Kara was threat to her. She could steal her boyfriend at any time and now she had to give the rival lessons. She sat down at the table and opened the book, "This is a book I had from when I was a kid. It's in the language of my home world. Each colony has a different written language. There are twelve languages that Adama asked me to go over with you."

"Funny, it looks a lot like Hebrew," she noted.

"Our language is Samarit," she informed.

"Samarit?' she asked. "Like in Samaritan?" she wondered.

Serina nodded, "Yes, that's what that language is called. You've heard of it?"

Kara sat like a deer caught in a pair of headlights and then slowly shook her head, "Nooo…I was just guessing." She decided she needed to be careful for Serina was much sharper than most of the women Viper cadets.

Cassiopeia wasn't in the mood and started the lesson, "This is the alphabet. You read it right to left. Are you with me so far?"

"I'm all ears," she assured her.

"Just pay attention," she huffed unenthused.

Serina could see the tension and knew the reason why. She understood Starbuck seemed to dote over Kara and that made Cassiopeia jealous. She offered a solution, "Cassiopeia…Why not leave the book here and I can help Kara with it in my spare time."

"But Adama asked me to do it," she rebutted.

Kara stated, "You don't have to if you don't want too. I'm sure I can figure this out."

"But it's my job," she insisted.

"I admire your dedication," Kara told her.

She asked, "You do?"

She nodded, "I do."

She smiled bashfully, "Okay then…Let's do this!"

 **Meanwhile**

Adama sat in his command chair on the bridge of the Galactica going over reports on a handheld computer. Colonel Tigh approached with the latest reports, "Long range scanners are clear, sir."

Adama looked up, "Good."

Tigh added, "I um, noticed your list for the officers' dinner tonight."

"Oh," Adama stated not too concerned.

"I am wondering why you have Lieutenant Thrace on the list." he admitted.

"Because she's an officer," he nonchalantly replied.

"Sir," he softly spoke. "She has been with us a few sectons."

"She's a valuable officer," he told him.

He kept his voice low, "I can't help but wonder why you made her an officer so fast."

Adama placed the computer down, "There is no use in keeping her as a cadet. She proved her worth in that cockpit and has been working on coming up with new maneuvers for our Viper pilots. She is quite valuable."

Tigh countered, "No more valuable than any other Viper pilot."

Adama would not go into details but assured, "She's the most valuable asset we have right now…More valuable than ten Viper pilots. Now this conversation is done."

"But sir," he countered.

"I said this conversation is done," he snapped.

"Yes sir," Tigh let the issue go. He was concerned that Adama's judgment could be getting clouded by the American for he seemed taken by her. Kara was always in secret meetings with the commander and he did seem to dote over her as much as his own children. He feared he was getting too attached to the American emotionally and decided he better keep an eye on her after all.

 **Meanwhile**

Starbuck and Apollo were on patrol ahead of the fleet in the Vipers and were chatting. Apollo spoke candidly to his friend. "You know something, Starbuck!"

"What?" he asked.

"You ever wonder how the Cylons knew we were looking for Earth and were able to send out that fake transmission?" he asked.

He shrugged, "I suppose they could intercepted some of our transmissions and decoded them."

"That would be difficult," he countered. "Or they could have a spy onboard."

"Who would be spying for the Cylons?" he squawked.

"Don't know," he sighed. "But it's kind of weird how we found Kara right after we the Cylons planted that fake transmission."

Starbuck huffed, "You don't think Kara has anything to do with that. We found her drifting in space. She was nearly dead."

"I know," he backed off for he knew his friend had grown close to her. But at the same time he began to wonder about Kara Thrace and how she came to their service. He felt like a piece of the puzzle was missing and he feared that perhaps it was Kara who was the Cylon spy after all. "It's just kind of weird." he sighed hoping he was wrong.

"Honestly, I don't it's a coincidence." Starbuck replied.

"You don't?" he gulped.

"They say the Lords of Cobol work in mysterious ways," Starbuck reminded. "Think about it! She's from another galaxy and her culture mirrors ours. The council could have voted to take her home but they didn't and we nearly fell into a Cylon trap. If she wasn't with us, the fleet would have been attacked. You wanna know what I think?"

Apollo sighed assuming, "The Lords of Cobol sent her to us."

"That and she's from Earth," he insisted.

"Earth Starbuck?" he winced.

"Hear me out," he told him. "They don't call it Earth. They call it America. American is their name for Earth and it's the thirteenth colony. Remember she said they have countries and states. The planet had fifty states and they big civil war. Each state is part of America. They call their planet America. Hence, the United States of America."

He sat baffled for a moment as he pondered the notion, "I hate to say it but you might be right. What if Kara is from Earth and she doesn't even know it?" Apollo's control panel started beeping, "I'm picking up a transmission."

"Me too," stated Starbuck. "It's not far. Let's check it out."

"Apollo to the Galactica," he radioed.

"Go ahead Apollo," his sister's voice replied.

"We're picking up an odd transmission. Starbuck and I are going to check it out."

Athena's voice confirmed, "Acknowledge Apollo."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

As Apollo and Starbuck closed in on the signal Starbuck made a startling conclusion. "This is a distress call like the one we picked up when we found Kara."

They soon came to the source. Before them floating in space was another shuttle. It was slightly different with upturned nose. It was white with black underbelly and the flag of the United States was on the tail. As they got closer they could read the name on the shuttle, " _Apollo_ ".

Starbuck gasped, "It's another shuttle from America!"

" _Apollo_ ," Apollo read off.

Starbuck opened the channel, "Starbuck to the shuttle _Apollo_ , do you read?"

A male voice came over the microphone, "Oh' thank god! I need help."

Apollo radioed, "Are you an American?"

The voice came back, "Yes! This is Lt. Colonel Lee Adama. I'm need of assistance."

Apollo asked, "Do you know Kara Thrace?"

"She's my fiancée," he insisted. "I'm looking for her."

Starbuck made a sour face for Kara told him that she broke up with her ex. "We rescued her not long ago." he radioed.

"I need a little help myself," he told him.

Apollo stated, "We can drag you back to the fleet."

"Is Kara with your fleet?" he asked.

"She is," Apollo confirmed.

 **Short Time Later**

Apollo had radioed the _Galactica_ that they found another shuttle and occupant was alive and awake. Boomer, Kara and Serina all waited for the two Vipers to land with the shuttle. It was a bit of a rough landing but all three vehicles came to a screeching halt in the bay.

Kara's mouth dropped as she realized what had happened. The _Apollo_ was the was the prototype for her shuttle the _Starbuck_ and there was only one person she could think of who was crazy enough to come looking for her and had the clout to get NASA to agree, Lt. Colonel Lee Adama.

She muttered as the shuttle landed, "You dip-shit!"

The shuttle opened as the men of the landing bay descended to assist the pilot. A man wearing a white spacesuit stood up. He removed the helmet and placed it down in the cockpit. His was slightly older than Kara and in his early thirties. He had dark hair and bright blue eyes. He was sweating from the long journey and risky rescue mission that obviously failed. His eyes landed on Kara.

"Kara?" he exhaled deep.

She smiled back not amused, "Lee…What the fuck did you do?"

"I've come to find you," he huffed getting out of the shuttle. He climbed down and walked over to her. Still in the suit he wrapped his arms around her thankful she was still alive. "I thought you were dead."

She needed to debrief him but she couldn't do so in front of everyone. She looked over at the prototype and asked, "You didn't really launch yourself onto a string in that?"

"It worked!" he huffed back.

"And just how were you planning getting back?" she balked.

"Hook up to another string," he argued. "I hardened it. It's just the string broke. Turns out they are more fragile than I thought." he explained.

She put a cigar in her mouth and rolled her eyes, "This is fucking nuts."

She was about to light the cigar when he took it from her lips, "When did you start smoking?"

"Take a good look around you, Lee!" she huffed.

Lee looked about and noted the seventies hairdos and brown uniforms. He made a face, "Did we travel through time?"

"No," she shook her head. "You're in the Andromeda Galaxy."

"I know," he nodded. "That's where I traced your trajectory too. I was planning on finding you and bringing you home."

"We can't go home," she told him.

"I can get us home," he insisted. "The string drive is my baby."

She explained, "Lee, this is a battleship and these people are all that is standing between humanity and the _Terminator_. They are called Cylons and they have spaceships. We really don't want them to follow us on a string home."

He looked about and then at Kara, "Seriously? We can defend ourselves…"

"No!" She shook her head, "We cannot not defend ourselves against these things…They are killer machines who just wiped out twelve, yes you heard right, twelve worlds! That fleet you just saw is all that is left. We cannot lead them home. This is our home now. You are on the frontlines, Lee. And believe me, they can use you."

"We can get home and we will be fine," he insisted. "We can bring them with us…"

She took his face in her hands and looked him right in the eye, "We can't just go back home and bring everybody with us until we can ensure the Cylons cannot find us. They are looking for a thirteen colony called Earth. We are from America and we have never heard of Earth."

He looked at her confused, "What?"

She looked at him expectantly, "We don't want to lead the Cylons to America."

He rebutted, "We can nuke the bastards!"

She smirked and shook her head, "No! That won't work. You are stuck here with me."

He de-gloved his hand and gently grasped hers, "At least we're together."

She huffed, "I gave you the ring back and called it off."

He argued, "I risked my life to find you because I love you."

She glared at him, "God, you're such an idiot!"

"What?" he asked unsure.

Starbuck and Apollo climbed down from their Vipers and ran over to see the man they rescued. Starbuck took one look at the spacesuit and knew for sure they were from the same plant. He spotted NASA logo and couldn't believe they found another American.

"You said your name is Lt. Colonel Adama?" Starbuck asked.

"I'm Lee Adama," he told him.

Apollo informed, "My father's name is Adama."

Lee smiled unsure and then gave a nod, "Good for him!"

Kara huffed, "Lee his father is the commander of the fleet!"

"Oh," he suddenly understood. "I should meet him then."

"My father will be looking forward to it," Apollo assured.

Boomer introduced himself, "I'm Boomer! You really are from America?"

"Yes," he nodded.

"You live in New York State too?" he wondered.

He shook his head, "No, I'm from Colorado. I'm military."

"You're a pilot like Kara?" asked Serina.

"I was her commanding officer," he informed.

Serina asked, "You two were engaged to be married?"

"We were," Lee admitted.

Kara stood fuming for she didn't wish for Lee to be trapped like she was and she feared he would also tell everyone they were from Earth. She couldn't believe he came looking for her on what had to have been a suicide mission and she felt guilty for she didn't wish his fate to be as hers.

"I'm gonna seriously fucking kill you," she huffed at him.

"Fine!" he huffed back. "Be pissed at me but I'm your best chance at getting back home and I'm not about to leave you stranded."

Serina sighed, "That's so sweet! He risked everything to find the woman he loves. That's so romantic." She looked at Kara, "You realize what kind of a man you have?"

"I do and that's why I called it off," she told her.

"He's a man who has risked everything for you," she reminded.

She sighed, "The good news is Lee is as good of a pilot as me." She looked at Apollo, "You got another Viper pilot."

"Viper pilot?" asked Lee.

She told him, "They desperately need fighter pilots and you need to speak with Commander Adama before you say anything else."

"Let me talk to this commander," Lee stated.

 **Short Time Later**

Lee and Kara were escorted to Commander Adama's office. Lee was dressed in the same type of blue uniform that they found Kara in after removing the spacesuit. Kara stood before the commander in the brown uniform and motioned towards her former lover.

"Commander, this is my ex, Lee Adama. He's a Lt Colonel in the Air Force and a fighter pilot too."

"I heard they found you in a shuttle nearly identical to the one my son found Kara in," Adama stated.

Lee informed him, "I used the prototype to try to launch a rescue for Kara. What exactly did we stumble into, Commander?"

"Kara has told you about Cylons?" he asked.

"She told me there are homicidal machines that wiped out twelve planets," he gulped.

"Yes, they did." the commander nodded. He leaned forward in his chair, "I believe the Cylons have planted a spy in the fleet. I'm aware that you and Kara are both from Earth but we cannot tell anyone else until we root out the spy."

"Makes sense," he agreed.

"Kara's cover is to tell everyone the name of her planet is America." he stated. "This was due to a miscommunication when we first found her. When she said she was an American we thought that was the name of her planet."

"So, you're trying to find Earth I gather," he gulped.

"You're planet is a missing colony," he told him. "It's legendary in our text; a thirteenth colony that broke away from the twelve. We are trying to find it after our worlds were destroyed by the Cylons."

Lee took a liking to the commander and had sympathy for his plight. "I see. But these machines could destroy Earth!"

Kara informed, "All the nukes on the planet aren't gonna stop these things."

Commander Adama stated, "My plan is to find a way to Earth that Cylons could never trace and root out the spy before we get there. That way your planet will remain safely hidden. But it is a long journey and the Cylons are perusing us. Kara has agreed to help us defend the fleet until we can find a safe way of getting to Earth that Cylons cannot follow."

Kara stated, "Commander Adama the string drive that brought both shuttles here is Lee's baby. He's the inventor! I designed the craft and he designed the engine. If anyone can find a safe way of getting us back to Earth as a whole fleet it will be Lee."

"Draw me up a plan but let's keep this between us," the commander told them. "Colonel, I also need pilots. Kara has proven your fighter pilots can handle our Vipers. I would like you to join our fleet."

Lee agreed, "I will do whatever is takes to bring Kara home safely." He added, "And help you and your fleet. I owe your son my life and Kara's life. Whatever you need me to do, I will do."

Commander Adama sat pleased, "That very generous of you. Tell me, is Adama a common name on Earth?"

"No," Lee replied. "It's not!"

Adama pondered, "It would be interesting to discover if we have a common ancestor."

"It would," Lee agreed with a smile.

Kara rolled her eyes, "Yes, everyone can have family reunions in space. Can we get back down to business here? Lee needs to trained on the Vipers, he needs to change his clothes, be debriefed on your terminology and work on a way of getting the whole fleet safely to Earth."

Lee smiled, "No problem! I always believed you can do anything if you put your mind to it." It was soon becoming clear that Lee was the optimist of the pair.

Colonel Adama agreed, "Indeed you can."

Kara closed her eyes and muttered, "Jesus Christ, he's just like Apollo!"

"Actually Lee reminds me of my late son, Zach." Adama stated.

Kara huffed at her ex, "You're gonna fit right in here."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

A few days had passed and Lee Adama was adjusting to his current situation. He was trapped trillions upon trillions of miles from home with a rag-tag fleet of survivors from an apocalypse and his ex-girlfriend who didn't seem very happy that he tried to rescue her. But he loved Kara even after they broke up and he wanted her back at any cost, even if it cost him his life. But soon Lee developed another problem. His youthful face, bright blue eyes and dark brown hair made him rather attractive and coupled with his boyish charm; he became an icon to Cassiopeia and many of the other women. Starbuck's second girlfriend was in much turmoil as she found herself attracted to both Starbuck and Lee at the same time.

Needless to say, Lee was always the cool one of the pair on Earth. He was a good-looking fighter pilot that flew the latest jet fighters known to man. He was an officer and a gentleman with stellar career and a bright future. It was soon apparent to Starbuck that out of the pair, Kara was more of a nerd than Lee. She was the thinker who was always looking at engineering and flight. He liked Lee overall and the man fit in rather well with the other pilots. But at the same time he was bit jealous for Lee wanted Kara's affections and frankly, so did Starbuck.

Apollo adored Lee and soon became his favorite. They had much in common and he reminded him of his younger brother who died. Apollo couldn't help but wonder about the last name of Adama and if perhaps there was a connection to his family. But Apollo had recently suffered the loss of his new wife, Serina and was struggling to come to terms with her death.

Unlike Kara, Lee was never a cadet with the fleet. Instead he was familiarized with the Vipers and placed in a rapid training session. He did so well he was given the rank of Captain much to Kara's dismay. Kara had to prove her worth and Lee was a shoo-in. With Lee as a new commanding officer Kara wanted to kill him even more.

Commander Adama brought Lee and Kara to his office for a private meeting. The old man sat behind his desk rather pleased with how well Lee and Kara were adjusting. "How are you two doing?" he asked.

Kara sighed unenthused, "Great!"

"Something wrong?" he asked concerned.

"Why is he my CO?" she snorted. "He was never even a cadet here."

Adama explained, "His rank here reflects his rank in your Air Force. There is no reason to make him a lieutenant when he's a colonel."

"I was a major," she reminded.

Adama replied, "When we found you, I wasn't sure what we were dealing with. You proved yourself in the cockpit. You vouched for Captain Adama and I agreed."

She miffed, "I didn't tell you to have him out rank me."

Lee smirked at her, "I outranked you in the military back home too, dear."

"Shut up," she miffed at him.

Adama suggested amused, "I'm sure you two can work this out. I called you here to ask if there is any way I can get a message to your home planet to warn them about the Cylons?"

Kara shook her head, "A radio transmission would take light years to get there."

Lee pondered, "What about a string?"

Kara asked, "How would we do that? How could we send a signal on a string?"

"We can't do that," he admitted. "But I can install the engine on one of _Galactica's_ shuttles and we can send someone back. We can use the shuttle to land and take off on Earth. Heck, we could use a Viper for that matter."

"You mean like a courier?" asked Kara.

"Exactly," he nodded. "Our shuttles can't lift off without a rocket. But _Galactica's_ shuttles can. And it would be one small shuttle on one small string that the Cylons can't detect."

Adama added, "I would like to send a representative to Earth."

Lee suggested, "You come to Earth with me and Kara."

"I'm staying here," she told him.

He asked, "Why? You can home with me."

She replied, "Because I want to make damn sure they send Commander Adama back and don't keep him on Earth. If you and I both go back together…Why would they bother to let Commander Adama….An alien from space…Go back to the fleet?"

Commander Adama stated, "I cannot leave the fleet behind. I will have to send someone in my place."

Lee asked, "Who did you have in mind?"

"My son, Apollo!" he told them.

"We would have to disclose Earth to him," reminded Lee.

"I trust my son," he insisted. "He just lost Serina and has been taking high risk missions. I think perhaps disclosing Earth to him and sending him there on a mission might be what he needs to help him through the loss."

Kara winced, "Starbuck wouldn't let him go alone. We all know he took her death hard."

"Then Starbuck will go with him," he told the pair.

Kara countered, "Starbuck and Apollo are your two best pilots. What if something happens to fleet while they are away?"

"Starbuck and my son are both well-seasoned pilots. They can fly the shuttle to Earth and deliver the message and return." he gathered. "You are not needed to fly the shuttle, Captain. Starbuck and my son often take high risk and secret missions. The fleet won't think much of their absence. But if you go with them, Captain then I'm afraid that might raise suspicions and we have to root out the spy."

Kara sighed, "So Lee and I stay here and protect the fleet while Starbuck and Apollo go to Earth!"

Lee stated, "It could work! We just tell them what to expect and who to give the message too."

"Just keep Starbuck out of Vegas," Kara miffed.

Lee slowly nodded in agreement, "That would be wise."

 **Short Time Later**

Apollo lay on his bunk thinking about how Cassiopeia called him out on taking so many dangerous missions. She was right; he had a death wish after losing Serina in a Cylon ambush. They had just been married and now he was all that his stepson Boxy had left. He had to do something to ensure the long term survival of the children of the remaining colonies.

Starbuck had wandered into the quarters of the ship and spotted his friend on his bunk in thought. He grimaced, "Hey!"

Apollo didn't look and merely spoke, "Starbuck."

"Up for a game of pyramid?" he tried to cheer him up.

"No," he shook his head.

Starbuck took a seat at the nearby table and started to fiddle with a deck of cards. He looked back at his friend, "You know we've all lost a lot. Boxy needs you. You're his father now."

"I know," he gulped and slowly nodded.

"I bet when we find Earth…" he started.

Apollo snorted, "We're never gonna find it." He shot up in bed and glared at his friend. "Stop talking about Earth! It's a fable, it doesn't exist and we are never gonna find it."

Starbuck countered, "Okay, maybe we won't find Earth. Maybe we will go America instead. Maybe the council will vote to go to American now that Lee is also here."

His eyes narrowed, "You know what really upsets me! We could have gone to America when we found Kara. The council could have voted for it. We could be halfway there by now and Serina would still be alive. Instead they voted to go after some myth that doesn't exist."

Starbuck asked, "You really think it doesn't exist?" Starbuck had now convinced himself that America was likely Earth but under a different name. But in Apollo's current emotional state he didn't want to upset him.

"It doesn't exist!" he proclaimed.

The door slid open and much to Apollo's surprise and his father walked into the room with Kara and Lee. The commander spoke to Lee, "Seal that door so no one can walk in on us."

Lee locked the door behind them with a nod.

Apollo asked, "What's all this about, father?"

Commander Adama led Lee and Kara to the table and seated himself nearest to his son. He spoke softly to him, "I need to have a private meeting with you and Starbuck. Please sit with us, son."

Apollo rose to his feet and slid into the nearby seat at the table. He figured whatever his father wanted to speak to him about it had something to do with America for Lee and Kara were both present. "What is it?" he asked him.

"There a spy in our midst and I have not figured out who it is yet. But I know it's not you or Starbuck," he assured him. "Lieutenant Thrace and Captain Adama both have something to tell you."

Kara gasped, "You want us to tell him?"

"It is your home we are discussing," he reminded her.

Starbuck smiled, "We're going to America! You're taking the fleet to America!"

"Not quite," she winced. "You and Apollo are going on a top secret mission to America to warn them about the Cylons and tell NASA that Lee and I are alive and well."

Apollo wondered, "How are you gonna do that?"

Lee smirked, "I'm going to the put the string drive engine in one of your shuttles and you and Starbuck are going to fly it there. Kara and I will stay behind to protect the fleet." He then pointed a finger to Starbuck while still speaking to Apollo, "Just keep him out of Vegas."

Starbuck's eyes gleamed with excitement, "Apollo and I will get to go America." He looked at his friend, "Maybe once we see it firsthand and we come back we can convince the council to go to America and not keep looking for Earth."

Kara winced, "Yeah, um…One other thing. Remember when I said we have countries on my planet. Well, American is the name of our country."

Starbuck seemed baffled, "I thought you said your country's name was Tatoonie?"

Lee laughed, "Really!" He looked at Kara, " _Star Wars_ , huh? And you said it was a stupid movie."

She sighed and confessed to Starbuck, "I lied and told you the name of a made up planet from a story. We don't know who the spy is so I was told not to tell anyone the name of the planet. Initially, when you guys found me, I thought I was still on Earth. I had no idea I was in deep space much less another galaxy."

Apollo held up a hand, "Earth! You said Earth."

His father gave a nod, "Lee and Kara are both from Earth. I told them to tell no one once I found out about the miscommunication. I am telling you because I am sending you to Earth to warn them about the Cylons."

Apollo's mind put the facts together and then he understood he and Starbuck were needed now more than ever. They had to leave the fleet to warn Earth.

Starbuck grinned, "I was right! I thought you were from Earth but you called it America and we called it Earth."

Kara smiled, "You are a smart man." She then looked at Apollo, "Really keep him out of Vegas. He won't leave if he goes there."

Starbuck asked, "What is Vegas?"

Lee grinned, "It's a huge gambling city."

Starbuck's eyes lit up, "You have a whole city for gambling."

Kara slowly nodded, "Yup."

Apollo suddenly had a new mission. He couldn't save his wife but he could save Earth and find a home for his son and the fleet. Earth was real and he was going to see firsthand. "Just tell me everything I need to know." he stated.

 **Short Time Later**

Captain Lee Adama soon became alarmed when it was discovered that the string drive engine from Kara's shuttle, the _Starbuck_ was missing. His plan was to install that string drive engine into one of _Galactica's_ shuttles. Instead he was forced to install the string drive engine from his shuttle the _Apollo_.

Captain Apollo assisted him with the work after informing his father of the missing engine. He looked at the lead-lined steal box filled with a crystal like material. He wondered, "How exactly does this engine work?"

Lee took the box from his hands and placed it in the rear of the under the floorboards near the main shuttle thrusters. "You know what a cosmic string is?"

Apollo nodded, "Particle strings of such high density that have a gravitational pull. We have to be careful of those when flying. If you get caught in one it's like being caught in a spider web. It can tear a ship apart."

"Well, what this little engine does is latch onto one of those strings and uses the gravitational pull to jump through space," he told him. "NASA calls it a space jump. You're jumping through space." He then muttered, "Though some want to call it a leap."

Apollo replied, "I like jump. So, this little box allows us to use one of the most dangerous space hazards known at any Viper pilot to jump through space. You could put that on a Battlestar," he mentioned.

Lee sighed, "Or the Cylons could put in in one of their Base Stars and attack Earth."

"Starbuck and I are not gonna let that happen," he assured him.

Lee looked up from his work, "When you get to Earth you will find my father. His name is General William Adama. Let him know I'm okay and so is Kara. Let him know we chose to stay behind and help and that we will come home. Him and my mom just got divorced and me being missing has to be tearing him up inside."

Apollo assured him, "I will! You have my word."

Lee reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He opened it found a picture of his father in uniform, "This is my father." He took out the photo, "Keep it with you and give it to him as proof. They won't know what to make of you and Starbuck without proof."

Apollo took the picture, "I will." He noticed another snapshot of an older women in his wallet, "That your mom?"

He showed him the photo, "Yeah, this is my mom. Her name is Laura Roslin. She's a US Senator. My father is a republican and she's a democrat. They bicker all the time."

"Republican and democrat are political parties I take it," he gathered.

"Yup," he nodded.

Curiously he asked, "Which political party are you?"

"Neither," he told him. "I'm a political atheist. I don't believe in political parties."

"I guess I'm a political atheist too," he agreed. "Is that Kara in other photo?"

"Yeah," he held up the picture for him to see, "Back when she long hair and thought I was Tom Cruise."

"She thought you were someone else?" he asked baffled.

"Nah," he grinned. "Back when she thought was I cool. Now, Starbuck is cool and I'm just the geek who came to rescue her."

Apollo clarified, "Cool means neat in Earth terminology."

"Better than neat," he nodded.

He pondered, "So, I'm cool then."

He finished the install and wiped his hands on a rag, "To me you are but to Kara…You're a geek like me."

"And geek means?" he asked.

"The opposite of cool," he sighed. He dug out the cash in his wallet. "Here, put this in your pocket. It's our version of a cubit. We call it money. Just in case you have a problem and you need it."

He took the bills and folded them up, "Thank you, Lee." He slipped the picture in his jacket pocket and hoped for the best.

 **Meanwhile**

Starbuck and Kara were looking for leads of the missing engine. They strolled down the halls as they asked personnel if anyone saw anything unusual. Starbuck sighed, "That engine can be long gone by now."

"If the Cylons have it my planet is screwed." she miffed.

"If the Cylons have it they can use to jump through space ahead of us and wipe out the rest of the fleet," he reminded.

"Lee and I will protect the fleet at all cost," she promised.

"Apollo and I will warn your planet," he assured knowing not to use the term Earth.

"When you get to my planet, do me a favor and find my best friend. See our parents are both gone and she's the only family I have left. We've been best friends since we were little kids. Let her know I'm okay," she pleaded.

"What's her name?" he asked.

"Sharon Valerii," she noted. "She's a Major in the US Air Force and pilot like me and Lee. Ironically her call sign is 'Boomer.' She's have Asian so she looks more oriental."

"Oriental?" he asked confused.

"Yeah, um the Virgos," she recalled the colony that was similar in features.

"She's Virgo," he nodded understanding.

"No, she's actually Pisces." she informed. "We use the Zodiac as birth signs and not colony signs."

"Ah," he pondered the notions of birth signs. He looked ahead and found Boomer and Greenbean walking down the hallway towards them. The pair had come from the cafeteria. He smirked to himself, "Boomer, huh?"

Boomer greeted them, "Starbuck, Kara. Little late for lunch!"

She replied, "No time for lunch. Starbuck and I were getting ready to put my shuttle in long term storage when we found the engine that brought me here is missing. Have you seen anyone messing around with my shuttle?"

Boomer gasped, "No! Oh, that's not good. That's high level technology. That should be under lock and key."

Starbuck stated, "It was but someone over rode the codes and got access to the locker. If that engine finds its way to the Cylons…"

He grew wide-eyed, "That would be bad."

Greenbean asked, "Well what would the Cylons be able to do with it. They don't know about Kara or America?"

Kara explained, "The engine allows you to latch onto a cosmic string and use it's gravity to leap through space. I leaped from my galaxy to yours on a string. If the Cylons get that technology and duplicate it, put it in one of their Base Stars they could leap anywhere on a string, including my home planet and find America."

Greenbean rebutted, "But America is in another galaxy."

"They could leap there in seconds," she told him. "The Cylons have the manufacturing and technology to take that prototype even further. They could even use the gravitational pull of those strings to manipulate time itself. We need to find it and make sure the Cylons never get it." she warned them.

Boomer volunteered, "Me and Greenbean can help ya look."

Starbuck smiled, "That would be appreciated."

Boomer assured her, "We'll find that engine." He looked to his tall skinny friend, "Come on. Let's start asking around."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

After the crew of the _Galactica_ had turned in for sleep, Commander Adama led Kara Thrace and Lee Adama to the landing bay to see Apollo and Starbuck off in the shuttle on the secret mission.

The commander handed his son, Apollo a letter sealed in the envelope, "You must ensure the leaders of Earth get this letter."

He graciously took the letter, "I will father."

Adama's blue eyes locked onto his son. He didn't wish to send him away for he feared the mission would fail and he would never see him again. But at the same time not only did the fate of the fleet rest upon his shoulder's but Earth as well. He gulped, "Take care, son."

"I won't let you down, father." he assured him.

"I know you won't," he gave a nod.

Apollo looked at Lee and Kara. "You two take care of the fleet while we are gone."

Kara smiled, "We will."

Lee held out a hand, "I'll be following your lead. Greenbean and Boomer are safe with me."

"I know they will be," he replied shaking Lee's hand.

Starbuck grinned at Kara, "Be nice to Cassiopeia while I'm gone."

Kara chuckled, "Right! What about your other girlfriend? Athena?"

"Be nice to her too," he insisted.

Lee smirked, "You realize that you're his third girlfriend according the guys, Kara."

She kidded, "I thought I was his protégée and he was making into the female version of him."

Starbuck smirked, "Ya are, kid."

"Thanks," she rolled her eyes. She then reached up around her neck and removed her dog tags. She placed the article around Starbuck's neck. "More proof if you need it."

"I thought you were giving me a present," he grinned back at her.

"I am," she replied and then hugged him tight.

He squeezed her for a moment and then gently released her grip, "Be good."

She pointed a finger at him, "You too!"

Apollo asked his partner, "Ready?"

"As I'll ever be," he replied.

"See ya when you get back," Kara told Apollo and then hugged him gently.

He gave a slight embrace, "We'll be back soon." He then turned and led Starbuck into the shuttle as his father than their friends from Earth stepped back and watched as they readied for flight.

Starbuck took the co-pilot's seat and pushed the lever that closed the shuttle door behind them. He looked out the window, "What do you think Earth will be like?"

"It should be similar to the twelve colonies," he replied taking the pilot's seat.

"I suppose," he agreed. Then cocked his head, "What do you think Vegas is like?"

Apollo smirked, "Doesn't matter! I have strict orders to keep you out of it."

"But it's an entire city full of casinos," countered Starbuck.

"Which is why I have to keep you out of it," rebutted Apollo. He looked at his friend, "Ready for liftoff!"

"Ready," he took a deep breath. "I just hope Lee's invention gets us there."

"If we get stranded like he did it's not gonna matter if we never see Vegas," he agreed.

"I really want to see Vegas," Starbuck confessed.

Apollo smirked, "That's against direct orders."

"Who is gonna know?" he asked.

"Me," he reminded him. He took the controls and the shuttle lifted off the bay floor. He maneuvered it out the bay door and into space. As they continued through the fleet Starbuck complained.

"Just one trip," he pleaded.

"No!" he shook his head.

"Oh' for the Lords' of Kobol," he huffed.

"Nope," Apollo shook his head amused.

Starbuck then wondered, "What do they use for cubits?"

Apollo replied, "Something called money. Lee gave me his incase we need it."

"Who do we give that letter too?" asked Starbuck.

"Lee's father," he replied. "He's a General and will give it to the leaders."

"Sounds like a nice, smooth plan." Starbuck noted.

They left the fleet and behind and continued into deep space.

Apollo noted, "According the sensors we should find a string that can bring us to Earth soon."

Starbuck added, "I can't believe we are actually looking for these things! Usually strings are bad news."

"In this case they are good," countered Apollo.

Starbuck asked, "How long do you think it will take us to get to Earth?"

"Lee said it should take seconds," Apollo replied. He then converted the measurement, "Microns."

"Microns," Starbuck wasn't sure if that was even possible. The sensor lit up, "We got it!"

"Engaging engine," Apollo pulled another lever.

Before them the space seemed to warp and contour and then a spectrum of colors flashed by in mere seconds. They then came off the cosmic string and suddenly were looking at a round blue planet with swirling clouds.

Starbuck asked, "Is that Earth?"

Apollo wasn't sure and stated, "We will find out." He opened the microphone and made a call, "This is shuttle craft ten to NASA." He used the instructions to hail NASA given to him by Lee and Kara.

He paused and waited for any response.

Starbuck double checked the frequency, "It's set to the right frequency."

Apollo repeated the hail, "This is shuttle craft ten to NASA."

A voice crackled over the receiver, "This is Houston. Can you please repeat?"

"This is shuttle craft ten," Apollo replied. "We are trying to contact NASA." He figured they had failed for Houston was not something he was warned about.

"This is NASA," the voice replied. "This is Houston Control. Can you please identify yourself?"

"This is shuttle craft ten," Apollo stated relived.

"Shuttle Craft Ten we do not see you on RADAR. Please relay your current position."

"We are entering high orbit," he stated as they started to descend.

There was another pause and then voice asked, "Can you repeat that?"

"We are entering high orbit," he told him.

What Apollo and Starbuck didn't know was Lee and Kara both forget to mention that Earth had not made contact with others from space and had no idea there was another twelve colonies.

"High orbit?" the voice asked.

As they passed the satellites Earth's tracking system picked up the small craft. The alarms were sounded for an alien craft had just entered the atmosphere.

The voice replied, "Shuttle Ten…I…Um…I have you on satellite. Can you um…Where are you from?"

"We are from the _Galactica_ ," Apollo replied. "We found your pilots, Kara Thrace and Lee Adama."

The radio went silent and then the voice asked, "They are alive?"

"They are onboard the _Galactica_ ," Apollo reported.

"Um…" the voice seemed rather baffled.

Starbuck noted, "They don't seem to understand."

As they busted through the higher levels of the atmosphere and into airspace over the United States of America they soon discovered very large fighter craft off to their sides. They were suddenly sandwiched in between two American jet fighters.

Another voice came over the radio but this time it was a female voice, "Undefined craft! You are to land at Houston."

Starbuck asked, "Where is Houston?"

"You will follow our escort," she replied.

Starbuck stated, "Sounds good! We are Shuttle Craft Ten. We are identified."

"I'm Lt. Sharon Valerii," she replied. "You stated you know what became of Kara Thrace and Lee Adama."

Starbuck recognized the name, "You're her best friend. Kara told me you are a pilot. I'm Starbuck! I'm Kara's friend."

"Is she alive?" she asked.

"She's fine," he replied. "Apollo and I found her in her shuttle. She's on the _Galactica_."

"She's where?" she asked to clarify.

Starbuck tried to explain, "She onboard a deep space battleship called the _Galactica_ in the Andromeda galaxy. She and Lee sent us here to your planet."

Chatter erupted over the radios.

"Holy fuck these guys are aliens," one voice broke out.

"NASA tracked them in past the fucking moon." another erupted.

Starbuck looked at Apollo and stated, "They all sound like Kara."

"I noticed," Apollo replied. He then opened a channel, "Lt Sharon Valerii, this is Captain Apollo. I have a handwritten message to give to General William Adama from my father, Commander Adama of the _Galactica_."

"I'm escorting you to Houston," she replied. "You can give it to him there."

 **Houston**

Air Force Major General William Adama stood in his blue dress uniform with ribbon bars, rank and insignia properly displayed on his jacket. He was of average height and slightly heavy. His hair was thick and dark. His skin was dark tan in color with scares upon his face. He stood alone in Mission Control waiting to meet the two pilots that had come to Earth from deep space. The door opened and Starbuck and Apollo were escorted inside by Lt. Valerii who now sported green battle dress uniform or BDU that consisted of trousers and a jacket over a green t-shirt. Apollo and Starbuck were given physicals and a change of clothing. They too were given the green BDU's to wear on base.

The lieutenant came to attention, "General Adama."

"Sharon," he smiled at her. "These are the pilots you intercepted."

"Apollo and Starbuck," she gave a nod.

He looked at the pair, "You realize those are names of the shuttles."

"Yes sir," Apollo stated. "Lee is a friend of mine. He asked me to give you this," he held out a photo to the older man.

"I see," he took the photo and gazed upon it. "My son is alive!"

"Him and Kara both are," he assured him.

"They didn't come with you," he figured.

"They volunteered to stay on the _Galactica_ ," Apollo explained.

"Why?" he asked.

He held out the letter, "This explains everything. It's in your language. Kara and Lee helped my father write it so you can understand."

General Adama retrieved the letter and quickly opened it. He started to read the explanation. "Cylons?"

"Yes sir," Apollo gave a nod.

"Killer machines who wiped out twelve worlds like Earth?" he asked unsure.

"Yes sir," Apollo nodded. "They wiped out my home, killed my mother, my younger brother and my wife."

General Adama glanced up at him, "I'm sorry for your loss."

"Thank you sir," he replied candidly.

He continued to read, "There are less than forty thousand survivors from this…Holocaust?"

"Yes sir," Apollo confirmed.

He continued to read, "And Commander Adama is afraid the Cylons will find Earth."

"Yes sir," Apollo stated.

"You father has asked Earth prepare itself in case the Cylons find us and attack." he informed.

"You are our last hope." he confessed.

"I see." he read the more of the letter. "It says here our computers are more advanced than yours and you don't have the engine that my son invented. But your ships are deep space worthy and can fend the Cylons off."

"The _Galactia_ is," Apollo confirmed with a nod. "It's the last Battlestar. The Cylons destroyed the rest in an ambush. And right now, sir the _Galactica_ is all that is standing between Earth and the Cylons. Your son and Kara Thrace have volunteered to help defend Earth by remaining on the _Galactica_ and keeping the Cylons from finding the last colony. We have the same roots as our civilizations. The remaining twelve colonies stand shoulder to shoulder with Earth."

General Adama asked, "You have women and children in this fleet of survivors?"

"We have families and orphans." he admitted.

"Forty thousand isn't a lot," he told him concerned.

"It's less than a half of percent of what we had before the attack," Apollo explained. "They attacked all twelve worlds at the same time and wiped out all the Battlestars in a trap. That's why Kara and Lee wanted to stay and help. They knew if they came back that you wouldn't go back to help us. So, Starbuck and I came instead to give you this message."

General Adama explained, "You may not go back either. Your shuttle is highly advanced and capable of deep space travel. We need the technology you have to even stand a chance against these Cylons."

"We have to go back!" Apollo insisted.

"We need your technology," General Adama explained.

Sharon spoke up, "Sir! I have an idea."

"What is it Sharon?" he asked her.

"Send them back with a few of us to gather intel. We found Lee's invention in the shuttle. We can gather intel and plans needed to duplicate the ship they are on. There has to be blue prints for such a vessel." she gathered.

"There is!" Starbuck agreed. "Earth will build its own Battlestar. That's not a bad idea. That way if the Cylons do find Earth you can defend yourselves."

"So we could," he had to agree. "Kara would be able to get the necessary blueprints. How big is this battlestar?" he asked the pair.

"The _Galactica_ is one hundred and sixty-six maxims by and sixty-six maxims wide." Starbuck gauged.

Apollo reminded him, "We have to put that in their measurements."

"Oh right," he winced. "I forgot you have different terms. It's about," he pondered. "Five thousand feet long by two thousand feet wide."

Sharon gulped, "You're kidding me! How we will get something that big in space?"

"The battlestars were all build in orbiting factories." Apollo replied.

"We don't have that technology," she told him with a wave. "We're lifting everything off with rockets."

"The Cylons didn't destroy all the orbital stations," Starbuck recalled. "There are a few that were offline and not in operation when they attacked. They left them alone."

General Adama asked, "Can we get one of those stations here?"

Apollo got an idea, "With Lee's invention we have transport it here in seconds."

Starbuck suggested, "We take the shuttle, hope on a string and zip to an orbital station. Hook up the station and bring it here."

Apollo asked, "How do we get back to the fleet?"

"Good question," he sighed.

General Adama stated, "You get that station here and then we put Lee's engine back in your shuttle and you can go back to your fleet."

"Sounds like a plan." Apollo agreed.

General Adama looked at Sharon, "You are going with them, Sharon."

"Yes sir," she gave a nod.


End file.
